Tears
by Mikichu
Summary: The line between love and obsession can be deceptively thin, so much that it remains unseen to even those who cross. 10,000 years ago he went over and has followed her, claiming to love her, but there is no love left; only sorrow, hate, rape and murder.
1. Witnesses

Timmy and Remy are 13 in this story, just to let you know.

:::

Remy Buxaplenty could not sleep.

He tossed and turned in his bed for hours, spending half of his time awake trying to sleep and spending the other half wondering why his attempts as sleep weren't working. Was it the wad of money stored under his mattress, creating a rather large lump? No, that had always been there, and it never bugged him. The moonlight shining through the window? No, he rather liked the silvery glow. Darkness didn't really appeal to the little blond boy. He glanced at his purple "ferret"- his fairy godfather, Juandi...

_Juandissimo._

Of course. How could he have been so stupid? It was obvious that what he had seen earlier that day was keeping him up. He sighed, turning on his side. He remembered it perfectly, and he was afraid that he always would...

:::

Remy was walking upstairs after a rather high-quality breakfast- without his money-hungry parents, of course. He was going up to his room to wish for something (he didn't exactly know what, but he would think of it when he got there). As he neared the door to his room, he heard two voices. The first one he immediately recognized- it was Juandissimo, Remy's muscle-bound fairy godfather. The boy would know that Hispanic accent anywhere.

He recognized the second voice as well, but it was definitely not someone he cared for at all. Correction- he didn't care for her _then, _before he had witnessed what was about to happen. It was Wanda.

_Turner's fairy? _Remy wondered. _What on Earth is _she_ doing here? _Pressing his ear to the door, he strained to make out the words.

Wanda spoke first. "So, you wanted to talk to me? Make it quick." She sounded rather bored. "You know I don't like to leave Cosmo and Timmy alone with Poof for very long."

"Si, Wanda. I not only wanted to talk to you... I need to talk to you." Why did Juandissimo sound so angry? "Right now. I promise, Wanda, that this won't take long."

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"You getting back together with me," Juandissimo replied smoothly. Remy rolled his eyes. Juandissimo still hadn't given up on his chase after Wanda.

And soon it was going to be made clear that he never would.

Wanda snorted. "Juandissimo, no. Give it up. I love Cosmo now; I'll never love you after what you did to me! I loved you. I _trusted _you. Somehow, I found it in myself to forgive you day after day for what you were doing... but no more! I won't let you do that again!"

Remy's face contorted in confusion. Juandissimo constantly ranted on about Wanda, and he never told Remy about anything that he had done to her... or at least, nothing as bad as whatever Wanda was hinting at. He pressed the side of his head to the door harder, deeply interested in the conversation.

"Mi amor, whatever did I do?" Juandissimo sounded like he already knew. This made Remy even more confused.

"You know what you did," Wanda hissed angrily.

"No, actually. I don't."

_"_Like_ shit _you don't know!_"_ Remy had to suppress a giggle- as rich and sophisticated as he was, childhood immaturity was still there. He had never heard a fairy swear before, and somehow it seemed funny.

"I think I need a reminder of what I did," Juandissimo requested, although it was obvious in his tone that he knew just what he had done. "I think you need a reminder too, Wanda. It's a good ten thousand years overdue." He sounded calm.

Eerily calm.

"What? Juandissimo, what are you talking about?"

"A long-overdue reminder."

"I don't- Juandissimo, back off! I have a wand, and I'm not afraid to use it!" Wanda threatened.

Remy heard a small _clit-clit _sound, like a small object clattering on the floor. Juandissimo's voice rumbled with a mocking undertone. "Not anymore, you don't."

"I still have my hands!" Wanda growled.

Juandissimo laughed a bit. "You know I'm too strong for you." Remy bit his lip. He didn't care for Wanda at all -at least, not then- but he still didn't like where this was going.

"What difference does it make? Juandissimo, back off! I'm getting my wand and leaving. This conversation is over!"

"I beg to differ, Wanda." There it was again- that errie calmness in his voice that chilled Remy to the bone.

"It's _over,_ Juandissimo," Wanda stated.

"This is not over!"

"Yes it is!"

"It's not over until I say!"

"It's ov-"

Her word was cut off by a loud **_crack_** and a pained scream. Remy jumped and bit his lip harder as another crack came. He heard Wanda shrieking every time it sounded. It sounded kind of like a loud clap, or...

A slap...

Remy quietly turned the knob and peered inside his room.

There it was- the image that would be burned into his mind until this dying day, and would probably carry on into the afterlife. Wanda's eyes were closed, tears trickling from them like the silver fairy-blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. She was holding her cheek- Remy noticed that it was burning a painful red under her fingers. Juandissimo faced her, staring at her. As Remy took in the expression on his face, the anger burning in his lilac eyes, he realized with a jolt that there was only hate there.

There was no love.

"Ah, I remember now." The way Juandissimo said it reminded Remy of Scar in _The Lion King_, in the moment where Scar was just about to kill Simba. "I did something like..." he grabbed her shoulders and threw her against the wall, "_this _to you, didn't I?" As Wanda hit the wall, another crack- this one soft- sounded. This time, it didn't sound like a smack; it sounded more like a breaking twig.

Shoving his fist in his mouth was all Remy could do to keep himself from gasping in complete horror. One of Wanda's bug-like wings was folded at a cruel angle. Remy realized with a sickening feeling that it was broken. He looked at Juandissimo expectantly, predicting he would run -or hover- to Wanda, apologizing profusely for what he had done.

But sadly, such was not the case.

In his body, Remy could feel his stomach twisting as he watched Juandissimo. His mauve eyes were evil, taking in Wanda's pain with a cruel, violet bloodthirst. "Yes, I abused you, didn't I? And not only in this way."

Remy was confused again. How else could you abuse someone? There were three ways- emotionally, and Wanda didn't seem bothered by that at all. Physically, which Juandissimo had already done. Finally, there was...

Oh, no. This couldn't be real. Despite his occasional idiocies, Juandissimo was still someone who Remy respected. The fairy he looked up to, trusted, and, in a way, loved, couldn't be doing this!

Surely this was all a mistake? Maybe Remy had misunderstood?

But Remy realized it was true. What he was seeing was not false. He wanted to run, to pull himself away from the sheer horror that he was witnessing, and yet somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Part of him wanted to see it all. Why, he didn't know.

"Someone's going to find out sooner or later, Juandissimo," Wanda half-yelled, half-sobbed. "Someone will find out what you did- what you're doing now!"

Juandissimo grabbed her bloodstained chin and forced it up violently. His grip on her face didn't allow her magenta gaze away from his. "The only way anyone will ever find out is if you tell someone. And you remember what happened the last time you told someone?" Wanda's eyes widened as she did her best to nod in Juandissimo's strong hold on her head.

Remy knew he didn't want to know.

Juandissimo kissed her firmly, though Remy doubted it was passionate at all. Wanda's eyes did not close. She whimpered a little as Juandissimo pulled away and quickly slammed her into the wall again. Another soft wing-snapping sound made its way to Remy's ears. When Juandissimo rose his wand, vines shot up from the floor, snaking around Wanda's wrists forcing her to stand still. More came and twined around her ankles.

"Juandissimo..." Wanda sounded tired and scared. "Please... don't..."

Juandissimo ignored her and moved closer.

"Juanidissimo... back off..."

He grabbed her shirt.

"Stop..."

An evil laugh escaped the Hispanic fairy's dark lips. "You can't get away, Wanda." He touched noses with her and Wanda whimpered again. "And this time, Cosmo isn't here to save you."

Wanda closed her eyes, as if the darkness would somehow make it all go away. Juandissimo pulled quickly, ripping her shirt right off. Remy had to cover his mouth again to stop himself from making some sort of sound that would give himself away. Juandissimo, however, was not horrified at all by what he had just done.

He pressed up close to Wanda, taking his own shirt off. Wanda squirmed with the few parts of her body that weren't constricted with vines. "I will have you, Wanda, whether you like it or not."

"Juandissimo, please. Stop."

"Do you want a repeat of June 18 of 8542 B.C.?" Juandissimo snarled.

Whatever happened on that day had obviously gotten to Wanda, because her eyes widened and she hung her head. "Fine. Fine, Juandissimo. Beat me. Rape me. Kill me. Do whatever you want to me. I... I don't care."

_No, _Remy thought. _No. I can't just sit here and watch this. I can't. _He looked around. Wanda's wand was laying just a few steps away, inside the room. If he could somehow grab it and free her...

No. Wait. If Juandissimo saw him, it would be the end for both him and Wanda. So what could he do? Fairies had to grant the wishes of their godchildren, right? If Remy wished for something quietly, then would Juandissimo's wand activate automatically? It was worth a shot. He took a slow, quiet breath, and whispered, "I wish Wanda was free, safe, and back home with her husband and child."

Sure enough, Juandissimo's wand lit up. For a moment, he looked confounded. Then, slowly, he turned towards to door and hovered toward it.

Remy bit his lip again. He didn't quite think that one through. Juandissimo was an idiot, but even he could figure out that his godchild must have wished for it. Wanda had already poofed off by this time, so it was obvious that Juandisssimo was going over to the door to see who had done it...

Wait. He was stopping!

Juandissimo picked up Wanda's wand -which Remy would have liked to send with her, but magic can't be wished away by other magic- and twirled it in his fingers. He glared at his own wand one last time, cursing under his breath and saying something about how defective the wand was.

Remy almost made the mistake of breathing a sigh of relief. Instead, he turned and walked quietly down the stairs. Once he was sure he was out of earshot of his fairy godparent, he started running as fast as he could to Timmy's house. _I'll just have to explain I'm not there to fight, _he thought. _I'm telling Turner, whether Juandissimo likes it or not._


	2. Truth Be Told

I apologize for the long wait for this update. My internet was being a huge jerk so I could only write during school time in the computer lab. It's hard with the teacher behind you the whole time.

:::

By the time Remy had reached Timmy's house, he was fighting to catch his breath from the long run. He took a second to wind down- after all, he couldn't talk to Turner gasping like someone who was drowning and fighting to keep their head over the water. He looked at his wristwatch. The top corner read _Sty._

_Saturday, _Remy thought, satisfied. _Good. Turner's babysitter won't be here. Now to sneak into his room undetect-_

"Oh!" Remy heard Timmy's mother shouting inside the house. He caught a glimpse of them dancing. "I'm having so much fun, I wouldn't notice at all if someone walked up to our son's room!"

Remy blinked. _Well. That was easy. _Deciding to play it safe, he opened the door and snuck up to Timmy's room, suppressing a gag at the frightful way Turner's parents were dancing. Really, it was enough to make him hurl up his morning caviar.

As he neared Timmy's room, he was beginning to have his doubts. He would obviously lose his fairy if he reported what had happened- providing that Timmy told Jorgen- and there was a chance that Timmy wouldn't listen to him in the first place. They _were _long-time rivals, after all.

Well, if Timmy didn't want to listen to him, then too bad. He had to. After all, news that your fairy godmother had recently been assaulted and would have raped, had the person telling the story not stopped the attack, was enough to get anyone's attention.

...Right?

Deciding to not barge in and get Timmy totally freaked out, he rapped on the door softly with his fist. "Turner? ...I need to have a word with you."

"Remy Buxaplenty!" Well, this was a typical start. Timmy wrenched open the door with such force that if Remy were holding the knob he would have flown into the opposite wall. "What are you doing here?!"

"Calm down, Turner," Remy said, forcing down a shudder at the way Timmy's teeth stuck out of his mouth at such an angle. "I am not here to fight."

"Then why _are _you here? To challenge me?"

"No."

"A magical duel?"

"_No."_

_"_To try and trick me into wishing my fairies away?"

_"**NO!" **_

Timmy stopped cold, the shriek obviously taking him by surprise. "Oh. Soooo... what do you want?"

"It's like I said earlier, Turner," Remy explained, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "I just need to talk to you." Glancing at Timmy's three fairies, he added, "...Alone."

Cosmo, Wanda and Poof looked at Timmy. When their godchild nodded, they transformed into fish and swam into their purple castle.

"All right, Remy." Timmy sat on his bed and crossed his arms. "What is so important that you need to sneak into my house and freak me out, to later tell me that you just want to talk?"

"It involves Juandissimo and a certain pink-eyed fairy that you happen to know."

Timmy suddenly looked interested at the thought of Juandissimo and Wanda together. "What happened? Is Wanda leaving Cosmo?!" He bit his nails, his blue eyes whizzing around the room frantically. "What about Poof?! What'll happen to poor Poof? And me? And-"

Remy grabbed Timmy by the collar and shook him. "_Calm down, _you twit!" Timmy nodded and sat quietly. "After what I saw, there isn't a worry in the world that Wanda will leave her husband for _my _fairy!"

"What'd you see? Did she him him with a chair or something in another rejection?" Timmy asked. "There's nothing new there. So, she hit him. She always does."

"I beg to differ, Turner." Remy closed his lime-green eyes, the image of Wanda standing there, bleeding, forcing its way into his mind. "It was _he _who hit _her_."

Timmy's eyes widened. "What? But he loves her! He wouldn't hit her. Why hit someone you love? That's not right." He looked at his fishbowl. "Wow. No wonder you didn't want my fairies around."

"It's called 'abuse', Turner," Remy sighed. "I'll start the story now."

:::

Cosmo hovered inside his castle, his ear against the wooden door. Remy wanted to talk to Timmy alone? Even Cosmo, a complete idiot, would know that something was up.

Or maybe he was suspicious (hey, that's a big word- how did he know what it meant?) because he was so stupid? Wanda didn't suspect anything. She just went to her room to write that little romance novel of hers. _I was in my towel when the ninjas attacked... _

As he got lost in his thoughts, he dimly heard Remy say something about Juandissimo. At the mention of his Hispanic rival, he quickly left his nickel-rich thoughts and concentrated on listening to what Remy was saying.

_"I was going upstairs after having a rather high-quality dose of morning caviar-"_

_"Huh? What's caviar?" _

_"Fish eggs."_

_"EWWWWWWW!"_

_Remy sounded annoyed."Would you **please** let me finish?!"_

_"Sorry."_

_Remy cleared his throat. "Anyway, I was going upstairs to my room, and I heard the voices of Juandissimo and your fairy, Wanda."_

Cosmo squinted his eyes. _Wanda's going to have some explaining to do to me,_ he thought bitterly. _What the heck is she doing with him?_

_"I listened in for a while. They were arguing quite fiercely. After a while, Wanda got fed up and sounded like she was about to leave. Then, I heard a big crack. It sounded sort of like a slap, so I opened the door. And I saw Wanda, standing there, holding her cheek. It appeared Juandissimo had just slapped her."_

Cosmo gasped quietly and put his hand to his chest to check if he were having a heart attack. That jerk had the nerve to try and steal his wife- that alone was enough to make Cosmo want to throttle him. And now Juandissimo was hurting her.

Again.

_"Woah." Timmy sounded shocked. "So how did she get away?"_

"_I had to wish her back here with you without Juandissimo knowing. As I said before, Juandissimo slapped her, but I'm afraid it didn't stop there. Turner, you know what rape is, don't you?"_

Rape?! Cosmo bit his lip. He didn't...

"_Uhhh... yeah." Timmy obviously didn't like the way this was going any more than Cosmo did. "What does this have to do with..."_

_"I'm pretty sure you already have it figured out by now, Turner." Remy sighed softly. "He tried raping her."_

_"Well, what made him stop?!"_

_"I wished her out of there, safe and sound, and Juandissimo's wand activated automatically."_

_"Boy." Timmy paused. "Cosmo's gonna be pissed when he finds out."_

Pissed, indeed! Cosmo was clenching his fists so hard they drew a little bit of silver fairy-blood (called adrius). How did he not notice before? Wanda had bruises all over her arms- probably on her legs, too, if Cosmo could see them right now. And her cheek was, like Remy had said, a bright red. Oh man, once he got his hands on Juandissimo...

Wait. What was he thinking? He didn't stand a chance against Juandissimo! Cosmo, much as he hated to admit it, was a total wimp. And look at Juandissimo! There wasn't a square inch on his body that wasn't bulked up with muscle (come to think of it, even Juandissimo's _eyes _had overly-large muscles...)! The only thing there was to do was confront Wanda about this, like he had done when they were younger...

:::

Ehhhh, so there it is. Chapter Two.

Next Chapter: Basically a bunch of flashbacks from when Juandissimo and Wanda were still dating. So, anyway, bye!

~Mikichu


	3. Flashback

Okay. My internet is up again (FINALLY!) so there won't be so many long waits.

Hopefully you haven't deserted this story yet...

:::

Wanda sighed, sitting down on the bed she and Cosmo shared and putting her head in her hands. Poof was sound asleep in his little crib with his soft blanket over him. The little baby snored slightly in his slumber.

How could she have been so wrong about him? He seemed nice enough when she first saw him.

And talked to him.

And kissed him.

And made out with him.

And-

She shook her head. No, he might have seemed that way, but it was always said that looks could be deceiving. Still...

She knew she would never forget those first few days...

_:::_

_(Flashback.)_

_Wanda Fairywinkle walked in the high school, her shoulder bag heavy with supplies. A few teachers standing idly at the front entrance before the school day started nodded to her briefly in an unspoken hello and continued to chat to each other as she raised her hand in response. She quickly found her way to her homeroom and shoved her backpack in her locker, taking her seat. It was a good ten minutes before the day would officially begin, so she buried herself in a mushy romance novel._

_"Hey Wanda!" Calypse, one of her friends, walked up to her and waved a hand in her face. Her hair was the colour of the moon (just as shiny, too), and her eyes were a light, silvery colour._

_"Mmm. Hey," Wanda responded, annoyed one of her friends would dare interrupt her during her reading time._

_Calypse elbowed her. "Lighten up, will ya? We're in Grade Ten now! Double digits! Yeah!"_

_"Great. Listen, I'm a little busy now."_

_"Oh," Calypse said with mock hurt, "I guess you don't have time to check out this really, really hot guy that just walked in then."_

_Wanda's head snapped up. "Where?"_

_Calypse giggled. "He's over there, beside Clarice." Clarice was another one of Wanda's friends. Her eyes were a light, soft lavender and her hair was a deep, attractive violet- the same colour, Wanda noted, as the "really, really hot guy's" eyes. Calypse sighed. "Ooh, isn't he dreamy?"_

_Wanda would have answered, but she was too busy drooling. A sound between a slam and a thud was heard as her hardcover romance book slid out of her hands and onto the floor. "Yeah," she finally managed, though is sounded more like "Yeeeeeuuugghhh."_

_"Go say hi!" Calypse urged her, elbowing her in the middle of the back. Wanda stood up and gulped. Surely someone of the "hot guy's" stature would regard her as inferior?_

_Before Calypse could force her to go over and make an idiot of herself talking to this guy, the guy came over and kneeled down. "Hola, senoritas," he greeted them, kissing Wanda's hand. (Wanda nearly melted.) "You look lovely this morning."_

_"W- why thank you," Wanda blushed. Calypse was frowning, muttering about how she didn't get a kiss on the hand._

_"There is no need to thank me for the truth," he said smoothly, getting up and flashing Wanda one of the most attractive smiles she'd ever seen. "My name is Juandissimo," he stated, "Juandissimo Magnifico. And who are you lovely senoritas?"_

_Wanda opened her mouth to answer, but Calypse jumped in before she could say anything. "I'm Calypse Sparklewood. This is Wanda Fairywinkle."_

_"And I'm Clarice Lightwand," Clarice piped up, coming up behind Juandissimo._

_"Ah," Juandissimo nodded, smiling at Wanda again. The bell rang, signaling the start of the day, and they all took their seats._

_ Calypse sat beside Wanda (there was no official seating plan) and took advantage of the teacher being a few minutes late. "Wanda!"_

_"Hmmm?"_

_"What the hell was that?" she demanded._

_Wanda looked fairly taken aback. "What do you mean?"_

_"He comes up to us and gets all lovey with you, but pays me no attention whatsoever, **THAT'S WHAT!**" Calyplse's shriek made some heads turn. She glared at them and continued, "What's so special about you?"_

_Wanda picked up the romance novel she had dropped and shrugged. "I didn't **ask **him to start kissing my hand. He just did. Don't worry. You'll get your fair share of 'hot guy'. Who knows? Maybe he's just saving the best for last."_

_Calypse stared at her for a moment, then took in what she said and seemed contented. Then their teacher came in and they needed to shut up or risk being held back at recess, and Calypse was not willing to miss any potential moment she could have with Juandissimo._

_(End flashback.)_

"Wanda?"

Her husband's voice sliced through her thoughts and carried her back to reality. "H- hey," she greeted him shakily, not looking up from her hands. "Where were you?"

"I was listening to Remy telling his story," he answered, sitting down beside her and putting his hand on her shoulder. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Say anything about what?" Wanda asked innocently.

"Wanda, I'm an idiot, but I'm not _that_ stupid," Cosmo stated. "Juandissimo hurt you again. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Don't you remember what happened last time I told you?" Wanda cried, swatting his hand away and turning around. "You almost died."

"But I'm not dead."

"Hence the 'almost"," Wanda choked.

Cosmo sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist in a backwards hug. "Wanda, I survived it once, and I'll do it again."

"He'll see to it that you don't," Wanda protested. "He's gotten even _stronger, _Cosmo. You won't last a minute."

Cosmo finally saw there was no arguing with his wife, so he just sat there with his arms around her waist and her head on his shoulder, wondering if there was any way to stop this brutality without risking getting his fagillily gland ripped out by that... that _fiend_!

Wanda soon fell asleep in his arms, obviously tired by the long day. Cosmo, however, stayed up and held her, letting his thoughts wander back to Juandissimo. How could he stand to hurt something so innocent? How could he delight in breaking something so fragile? How could he abuse the privilege of Wanda's love?

How could he scar something so perfect?

Cosmo sighed. Juandissimo had seemed nice at first. He should know- he was there when Juandissimo had asked her out...

(_Flashback)_

_Noon hour. Any average high school student would find that noon hour break was their favorite part of the school day. Cosmo was one of those fairies who enjoyed the break so, even if he didn't have any friends to cherish the daily hour of freedom with. He didn't really mind; he was so used to being alone that he didn't really care anymore. If he was destined to be this way, then so be it. It's not like he especially liked any of them anyway._

_Except for maybe Wanda..._

_He shook his head and almost laughed at himself. Him and Wanda? What a stupid thought. He loved Wanda, yes, but he would never win her love. There was no way he was good enough for her in any way! She was so smart, and talented, and **beautiful**! Cosmo wasn't any of that. If anything, he was the total opposite. Like Wanda ever noticed him anyway. Cosmo was pretty sure she didn't even knew he existed.  
_

_Besides, when he was in his homeroom he had seen that new guy- what was his name... Juandissimo, wasn't it?- at he could tell that those two had an instant connection. Oh, why did he have to be the way he was? Why couldn't he be like someone that actually could win Wanda over?_

_UGH!_

_He hated himself._

_"So, Wanda..." Juandissimo's voice almost made Cosmo jump because it was coming from almost directly behind the tree he was sitting against. "I would ask, but surely someone of your beauty would already have a special someone, no?"_

_"You mean, am I dating anyone?" Wanda sounded bewildered._

_"Si, that is what I ask."_

_Wanda laughed a bit. "No. Why would anyone date me?"_

_"You must think more of yourself, Wanda," Juandissimo told her. _

_"There's not much to think about," Wanda shrugged, sounding completely dismissive. "Now, I have my own question: Why don't you go and leave me alone to find a girl to go out with you? What do you want with me?"_

_"I would like to go out with you," Juandissimo answered._

_"ME? WHAT?"_

_"Si."_

_"Well..." Wanda sounded genuinely flattered. "I... I suppose. Yes! Absolutely!" She paused. "Ooh, Calypse isn't gonna like this..."_

_"Calypse?" Juandissimo asked. "She is the one with the silver eyes, si?"_

_"Yeah, she is."_

_"Hm." Juandissimo sounded like he was thinking. "Do not worry, mi amor. I will take care of this."_

_(End Flashback.)_

Take care of it. Ha! Cosmo should have caught on right then and there, but of course Cosmo was an idiot . Besides, he was too absorbed in his grief that he had no chance with Wanda to really listen to what they were saying that much.

Wanda stirred and moaned, her face contorting in a look of fear. Her quiet, fearful moans slowly grew into long screams as she sat, frozen and asleep. Cosmo shook her and she quieted, her long, mascara-coated eyelashes fluttering. "C- Cosmo?" she hesitated. "Oh, Cosmo," she breathed, grabbing on to his hand and holding it tight. "Nightmare," she gulped. "Juandissimo."

"I could tell. You were screaming a lot."

"I was?" Wanda asked. "Did I wake up Poof?"

Cosmo listened for a moment. "No. I don't hear him."

"Okay." Wanda sighed. "Cosmo, please promise that you won't let anyone know..." she requested.

"I can't do that, Wanda."

"You have to!" Wanda exclaimed. "If Juandissimo finds out we're both as good as dead." She looked at her spouse desperately. "I don't want you to die because of me."

"I won't," Cosmo argued.

"You don't know that, Cosmo," Wanda said softly. "You don't know that."

:::

Before you continue with this story, I have to warn you of something.

Listen. If anyone here has read one of my previous stories, you can tell that I like my angst.

WARNING: The ending to this story will not be a "Happily-Ever-After" ending. This archive has WAY too many of those, and no matter how hard I try I can't write anything in which nobody dies at some point. In saying this, I don't want any reviews at the end of this story like **"OMG YOU KILLED so and so YOU MONSTER"** because it's not my fault you kept reading.

Somebody will die. Be prepared.


	4. Put to Sleep

Hey! Here's some FAQ:

_**Why do you like angst so much?**_

_It's more fun to write, as sadistic as it sounds. I hate happily-ever-after endings..._

_**Are you really 15?**_

_...Why should you care?_

_**Your real name isn't Mikichu, is it?**_

_Eepers, no. Ouch. That would be a bad name to give a child. O.o_

_**Why do you capitalize Anti-Fairy?**_

_Because I do. I dunno. It's a quirk._

_**How many people will die in this story?**_

_I have NO idea. More than one._

:::

Juandissimo sat in the shadows, his long black hair matching his surroundings. Normally, it would be shiny and quite attractive, but there was no light for the hair to reflect, so it stayed a pure ebony. Juandissimo's skin tone was just deep enough that it too seemed to melt away into the shadows, as if sinking into opaque black water. The only things visible through the shadows were his crown and his beautifully cruel violet eyes, gleaming with a coldness matched by no other- not even an Anti-Fairy.

He glanced out the window and saw Remy running up the overly-large driveway. A small smile twitched at the corner of his dark lips. It was the middle of the night. Did Remy really think he could get to Timmy's house and back without being long? Dimmsdale was a large place. Timmy's house was, by foot, hours away.

Oh, how he enjoyed the entertainment of the human child's idiocy.

He shifted his position so he faced directly out the window. The light of the moon and streetlights gave him a silloutette, which, much to Juandissimo's inexplicable delight, made him seem even more menacing. As the door behind him slowly creaked open, his smile faded. This child knew too much. He could perhaps kill him and bring him to the Father? The Father, as far as Juandissimo knew, had never tasted human blood before... (With the exception of that wicked teen, but Juandissimo didn't really consider her "human".)

"Juandissimo?" Remy's nasally voice cut through his thoughts. "Juandissimo? Are you there?"

"Si." He did not turn to face his godchild. "You have been gone long, Remy. Since this morning."

"I..." Remy obviously hadn't thought of a plausible reason for his absence. "I was out walking," he managed weakly.

"Walking to Timmy's house, si?"

Remy emitted a small gasp and a stunned silence followed. Juandissimo couldn't resist an evil grin. "So you knew all along?" Remy asked, doing his best to sound steady. Halfway through, his voice quieted and became more shaky as his fear rose.

"I know many things," Juandissimo replied calmly, still not looking at Remy. "I know that you were watching, I know that you wished Wanda to safety, and I know that you have told Timmy of what has been done." He paused and stood on the chair. "That is what happened, no?"

"You're right, that's what happened," Remy stated. "And I'm sure Turner is going to tell Jorgen."

"That would be muy malo, Buxalenty," Juandissimo warned the blond child (Remy winced at being called by his last name). "After he tells Jorgen, then what happens? I get taken to the Fairy Prison. I can not go there. I am to sexy to spend the rest of my life in jail!" He slammed his fist on the windowsill.

"Ha. Big deal," Remy replied, crossing his arms. "You deserve it, for what you did to her. Besides, it won't be long before I'm assigned another godparent-"

"Ah, this is where you are wrong, Remy," Juandissimo interjected, cutting the boy off. "I am afraid you know too much." He turned his head so he could look at Remy with his gleaming violet eyes. Remy's expression was priceless- a mixture of fear and confusion that could never be matched.

"What do you mean, I know too much?" Remy asked, dreading the answer.

"Remy, Remy," Juandissimo chuckled, shaking his head. It was a low, eerie laugh that sent shivers up Remy's spine. "Surely you already know? I only let you get away because that was part of my plan. Now you've done all you can to aid me in my game, but it is muy malo that you are plagued with such knowledge of my hurting Wanda." He quickly fluttered up and whizzed down towards Remy, grabbing the child by the collar. "I do not want you to live with such pain."

"You hate to see me hurt with these memories, but you're fine with Wanda hurting with the actual experience?" Remy shrieked. "You beat her! _Violated _her! And you're _**okay **_with that?"

"Do not speak of me like I am a monster," Juandissimo requested, his suave voice rumbling with a threatening undertone.

"You _are _a monster!"

A loud _**crack **_was heard as Juandissimo slapped his godson across the face. "I do not mean to hurt Wanda in such a way!" he bellowed, raising his wand and soundproofing the room so Remy's parents wouldn't wonder what was going on with all the noise. "It is my nature to hurt things! My soul is torn! I am a broken fairy, Remy!"

"That doesn't make it okay to hurt people."

Another _**crack**_. "How are you oppose me, mortal?" he cried, shocked to find himself almost exactly repeating the words of the the Father. He gripped Remy harder and stared into the boy's lime green eyes. "You have no say in what is right here. This is my game, and my game only. You are nothing but a pawn on my chessboard, and you have been captured!" Again, there they were- the words of the Father! "You have served your king well. Goodnight, little pawn, goodnight!" He took his hand and pressed Remy against the wall by his neck.

Remy felt his breath being cut off by Juandissimo's strong, calloused hand. His own small hands flew to his throat as he tried feebly to pull Juandissimo's palm off his neck.

A shallow chuckle escaped Juandissimo. "You have a little fight in you," he stated with a grin. "I like that." He pressed harder. He almost felt a pang of regret as Remy looked up at him with his dying, lime-green eyes, but what did it matter now?

It was already too late.

:::

It was midnight. Wanda was still awake from the nightmare she had earlier and Cosmo was still awake from... well, everything. They just lay in their bed, side by side, arguing over whether to tell Jorgen about Juandissimo or not.

"Cosmo, you can't! I don't want to lose you." No matter Cosmo's justification, Wanda would not be shaken.

"Have to tell him." Nor would her husband.

"No. I'd rather get hurt than see you die!"

"And I'd rather die than see you get hurt."

Wanda stayed silent, aware there was no reasoning with him. Hadn't she said it herself, that there was no reasoning with a man obsessed with fighting crime or churros? She turned on her side and put her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was so rhythmic, and almost made her want to fall asleep. Wanda would have, if the situation weren't so severe.

Cosmo wrapped his arms around her and pulled his wife closer, starting to doubt whether he should tell Jorgen or not. What would that do? It would get Cosmo killed, and that was a guarantee. Besides, Jorgen wouldn't be able to catch Juandissimo anyway. Wanda had said that he'd gotten stronger, and even back when they were in high school Juandissimo got away with murder.

(_Flashback.)_

_"**HE WHAT?"**_

_Wanda winced at her friend's ear-splitting shriek. "It's okay, Calypse. He-"_

_"It's not okay!" Calypse cried, enraged. "You traitor! You said that I would get him!"_

_"I said maybe-"_

_"I don't care!" Calypse raised her wand and poofed away. Wanda stood there guiltily and turned away. Okay, her friend thought she was a total jerk now because a guy she liked asked her out. That wasn't her fault, was it? Could she help if she attracted Juandissimo (heaven knows why)? Whatever. _

_She walked past the bathroom that afternoon break to hear Calypse (who had probably gone there to vent her anger in words on the stall walls) screaming, "What are you doing here? There's a boy in the girl's bathroom!" _

_Wanda laughed, peering inside the room. When she saw no one, she figured her friend had the situation under control. She heard some low humming, like two hushed voices, and then a final shriek and the sound of someone poofing away. She rushed in to talk to her friend about the poor soul who had stumbled into the wrong bathroom, and saw something that made her too afraid to scream._

_Clarice was pinned to the wall, her own wand through her chest and holding her up off her feet. Silver adrius ran down her chest, dripping on the floor to make reflective puddles. Her silver eyes stared at Wanda sightlessly, digging into her soul. Next to her, written in scorch marks, were the words, "Darkness will prevail."  
_

_Finally, through her shock she managed a loud scream and finally felt the tears running down her cheeks through the icy numbness she felt. "Help! Help! Killer! Killer in the washroom!"_

_A teacher, Mrs. Starbright, ran in next to her. When she saw Calypse, she almost fainted. Finally, after getting over the shock, she called for the principal._

_"I can't go in there!" he responded. "I'm a guy!"_

_"JUST GET IN HERE YOU NINNY."_

_(End flashback.)_

"Cosmo, why is he doing this?" Wanda asked suddenly, sounding really choked up.

"I don't know," Cosmo sighed softly. "Why are you asking me? I'm stupid, remember?"

"Not all the time," Wanda replied. "You can be smart."

"Whatever."

Wanda sighed. "I love you, Cosmo. Don't tell Jorgen."

"That you love me?" Cosmo asked. "I think he knows."

"No, about Juandissimo."

Cosmo sighed. "There's no arguing with you."

"Nope."

He smiled and ran his fingers through her (now, since the curl was gone, wavy) hair. It was silky and soft. "I guess that's one of the many things I love about you."

"You're so sweet."

"Thank you."

Wanda closed her eyes and soon dozed off. Cosmo looked at her and his smile grew. Whatever did he do to deserve this utter perfection he was blessed with? He had sunk Atlantis nine times, turned his father into a fly, and taken away Jorgen's five stars. And then along comes Wanda, this beautiful angel, falling in love with him? _Him? _It was insane.

But, then again, life was insane.

A small popping sound was heard as Juandissimo appeared, looking down on the couple. "Hola, Cosmo," he grinned. "I'm sure you'll agree when I say that Wanda is lovely when she sleeps."


	5. Like Magic

Things are getting more interesting in this chappie. Oh, and in case you forgot, adrius is fairy-blood. Emeriei (EM-er-eye) is Anti-Fairy-blood. :) That knowledge will be useful later on this the story.

:::

Cosmo could only manage a small squeak in his paralyzing fear. Juandissimo's violet gaze slowly slid from Cosmo to Wanda, who was now fast asleep. "Si, she is very beautiful indeed," he murmured, more to himself than to Cosmo. "So peaceful, like a sleeping angel..." He paused, and a sinister grin that seemed to belong more to someone like Anti-Cosmo than Juandissimo crept across his face. "Or perhaps a dead one."

"Don't you dare!" Cosmo shouted suddenly, sitting bolt upright. "Don't you dare hurt her! Why are you doing this to her? She didn't do anything wrong!"

Wanda groaned and stirred in his arms, apparently awake now. "Cosmo, sit still, would you? I'm trying to..." She opened her eyes to give her spouse a half-annoyed, half-amused glare, and she saw Juandissimo standing over her, an evil smile spread across his face. "...What are you doing here?" she breathed, shivers running down her spine like cold lightning bolts. "Stay away from me... please... oh God..." She grabbed on to Cosmo's shoulders and buried her face in his chest, beginning to cry from her fear. Her breath was quick and ragged.

"Wanda, mi amor," Juandissimo whispered just loud enough for them to hear, "I could never stay away from such a beauty." He walked- he didn't float for some reason- over to the side of the bed (as opposed to the foot of it where he had been before) and ran his fingers through Wanda's hair. "Never."

"Don't touch her!" Cosmo ordered his rival, baring his teeth.

"Ooh, big strong Cosmo," Juandissimo chuckled mockingly, cocking his head to the side for each word. "I am _ever_ so afraid."

Cosmo said nothing.

"Leave us alone," Wanda pleaded, her words slightly muffled due to the fact that was she was still crying into Cosmo's chest. "What do you want with us?"

"I don't want the both of you," Juandissimo retorted. "I only want you, Wanda." He paused and glanced at Cosmo. "Perhaps if Cosmo were to get into some sort of 'accident'," (he used the finger quotes on "accident" to stress his point further) "that would be muy bueno."

"The same sort of accident Calypse got into?" Cosmo snorted. Wanda sobbed and he bit his lip. "Sorry, hon... I know she was your friend..."

Juandissimo's grin only grew at the mention of the dead fairy. "Ah, yes, Calypse. I remember her. Wasn't she the one I impaled on her pet unicorn's horn?"

"No, she was the one you stabbed to the wall with her own wand," Wanda chided her ex, lifting her head and glaring at him.

She was greeted a smack on the side of the head and she whimpered, not bothering to make any attempt to protect herself. "Do not oppose me! I know what I did!"

"No, I remember it too," Cosmo told him. "That's what you-"

Juandissimo raised his hand and the green fairy trailed. He lowered his palm and grabbed Wanda's arm, pulling her off the bed. Her nightgown was a light lemon yellow. "Listen Wanda," he growled, "you will be mine. It is the Father's order."

"I don't give a damn about the 'Father'!" Wanda shrieked, well aware she was on her way to another slap. "He lied to you, he lied to Clarice, he lied to me, _he lied to everyone!"_

"He lied to protect what he loved!" Juandissimo protested, Wanda's remark obviously hitting a huge nerve. He still kept an iron grip on Wanda's arm.

"He's not capable of love!" Wanda snarled. "If he were capable of love, he wouldn't have raised you to do what you have done! He would have actually been there for you if he really loved you!"

"He had things to attend to! He was far too busy for me!" Juandissimo snarled, his voice rising still. "He said so himself!"

"Only to keep you away!"

_**Crack**_! Wanda stumbled back and fell on the bed, holding her temple and moaning. Cosmo quickly slid his arms around her and held her tightly. "Stop hurting her!" he shrieked, feeling tears brim in his eyes. "Stop it! You monster!"

"And what are you going to do?" Juandissimo asked. "Fight me off?" He brought his heel up and kicked Wanda in the side. She whimpered a bit, but otherwise made no sound. "Go ahead, Cosmo. Try it. I dare you."

Cosmo bit his lip and looked away. Wanda's futile arguing and painful screams made him want to die. If it were any other fairy hurting Wanda, Cosmo would waste no time in throttling him and protecting his wife. But this was Juandissimo! He didn't stand a chance! What could he do, get himself killed and leave Wanda to the mercy of this dark-skinned monstrosity? Leave her to die at the hands of Juandissimo?

But... wasn't that what he was doing now?

"That's it!" Cosmo exclaimed, tackling Juandissimo.

"Cosmo!" Wanda yelled. "Cosmo, _NO_!"

Juandissimo's eyes opened in shock as he was obviously not expecting the attack. Quickly, he composed himself and elbowed Cosmo in the stomach as the green fairy pulled at his silky ponytail. This caused Cosmo to fall and hit his head on the nightstand. Silver adrius trickled in a slow, deadly river down the back of his neck. Juandissimo kicked him in the stomach as he sat up, and he fell on his back, bleeding. As Cosmo's breath rushed from his tiny lungs, Juandissimo grinned and stood ominously above his rival.

_Oh God, what was I thinking?_

Wanda cried out and made an attempt to save her husband.

_Wanda, no!_

Juandissimo knocked her back onto the bed by shouldering her violently in the chest. She got up again but froze and sat down as Juandissimo took one of the two wands (he still had Wanda's) from his belt and pointed it at Cosmo's neck.

_I'm going to die._

"It is never wise to take someone up on a dare, senor," Juandissimo told him, his dark eyes narrowing. _"_Did your mother not tell you?"

_Leave Mama out of this, you meanie._

"Cat have your tongue, Cosmo?" Juandissimo asked. Cosmo realized he hadn't really said the words. "Perhaps you want your response to be a secret. Well, that is actually muy bueno." The tip of his wand lit up and Cosmo felt fear well up inside him. "I find the dead to be the best at staying silent."

_I'm so afraid..._

"Juandissimo!" Wanda pleaded. "Do whatever you want to me..."

_Wanda, don't you dare let him do anything! You don't deserve it!_

"...just don't hurt Cosmo."

_She really loves me..._

Juandissimo almost laughed. "Why not hurt him? He is keeping you from me, and I will not let anything get in the way of my love for you." He tore his eyes off his green-haired rival and glared at Wanda. "Not anything."

_I'm sorry Wanda._

"Juandissimo, please!"

_I let you down._

Juandissimo's wand turned red and he blasted Cosmo. He felt pain explode in his throat and quickly fire down his spine. He screamed, trying to writhe in pain, but found that he couldn't; the scream itself had taken all of his energy. He closed his eyes, hoping that it would make the pain go away. His senses dimmed and he suddenly felt cold.

The last thing he heard before he slipped into darkness was Wanda screaming his name.

:::

Timmy, Chester and AJ all sat in the same seat that day after school. The route was very long, covering the trailer park that Chester lived in all the way to the rich side of town.

The tape was black and yellow, stretching around the large house like a thin fence. Chester, who had the window seat in the bus, was the first to see. "Hey, what's with the huge bee?" he asked, pointing at the mansion.

AJ looked past him from the middle of the trio and laughed. "That's not a big bee, Chester. It's police tape."

Chester's eyes widened. "Police tape?" he cried. "That's wiggety-wiggety whack!"

AJ made a face at his friend's attempt to be "cool". "Didn't I tell you to stop that?"

Timmy put his head above the other two's. "Police tape? Where?" He gulped as he saw it was around Remy's house. Where were Cosmo and Wanda to explain things to him when you needed them? "That can't be good," he murmured. Remembering Remy's story, he wondered if Juandissimo had anything to do with whatever had happened. "Stop the bus!"

The driver shrugged, the years of dealing with the children making him not really care anymore. As Timmy raced down the aisle, Chester and AJ followed him. "Hey, what are you doing?" AJ asked as they stepped off the bus (which immediately drove away).

"I gotta check this out!" Timmy responded, not glancing at his bald friend.

"Whataya think happened?" Chester asked, doing his best to keep up with Timmy.

Timmy didn't respond. He instead stopped in front of the tape and saw two police officers speaking to a couple. The woman was weeping, head in her hands (both of which were heavily decorated with genuine diamond rings) while the man looked purely confounded. Timmy strained to hear what they were saying.

"...could be staged like a suicide but actually a homicide. We still need results from the autopsy." The first police officer, a stout man with no hair, didn't glance up from his notepad as he explained the scene to the couple.

"Oh, my baby!" the woman cried. She had mousy hair and bright green eyes. "Our son! If only we had paid more attention to him." Was she even paying attention to what the cop was saying?

"We have a son?" the man asked. His hair was a platinum blond and his eyes a dark brown.

"I told you we shouldn't have sent him to the F.U.N. Academy! But no!" the woman shrieked. "Maybe if we'd actually told him we loved him, or spent more than two minutes with him a day, he wouldn't have been such a ne'er-do-well!"

Timmy's eyes widened as his suspicions were confirmed: Remy Buxaplenty was dead. The first thing that came to his mind was Juandissimo, and his widened eyes soon became narrow slits. That monster had killed his own godchild!

"Whoa, Timmy," AJ said, coming up behind him. "What's up? You look really angry..."

Timmy took a few deep breaths before responding, "Nothing. I'm fine."

He wanted to hear more, but one of the officers spotted him. It was the second one, a tall woman with black hair and dark eyes. "Hey! This is a closed crime scene! Run along, children!"

"But we just wanna know what happened here!" Chester exclaimed.

The officer seemed to consider before finally giving in. "There was a little kid here, around your age, by the name of Remy Buxaplenty-"

"Timmy! Look out! Your long-time rival!" Chester and AJ bellowed, taking out expensive-looking weapons and whipping them about, looking for their target.

"Guys, calm down," Timmy ordered. "Go on," he urged the annoyed policewoman.

She sighed and continued, "There was a kid here by the name of Remy Buxaplenty who, by the looks of it, hung himself in his room with a belt. We're yet to do an autopsy, but we think it may be a homicide staged to look like a suicide. The thing is," she shook her head sadly, "the scene was amazingly clean. If it was in fact a murder, there likely won't be a shred of evidence." She turned away. "It was so spotless..." she paused. "It was like magic."


	6. A World of Hurt

Wanda sat on the bed, staring at her fallen lover and whimpering, hands over her mouth. Adruis pooled around him in an ominous, reflective lake of silver, staining his neon green hair. She felt tears brimming in her eyes as she turned her magenta gaze to her former boyfriend, who was emitting an eerie cackle. Immediately, she felt disgusted with herself. How could she have ever fallen for something so terrible, something that was so utterly incapable of feeling any sorrow or remorse?

Slowly, hoping Juandissimo wouldn't notice, she reached for the cordless phone on her nightstand, and muffled the beeping sounds as she dialed by shoving the handset under her pillow. Feeling thankful that Juandissimo seemed too absorbed in his victorious laughter to notice her, she begged Dr. Rip Studwell to pick up his phone.

After about three rings, Studwell's voice came through the receiver. "Hey, who is this?" It sounded groggy and Wanda realized she must have woken him up.

"Studwell, it's Wanda. Cosmo just got blasted and he's..." She gulped. "He's dying."

She heard Studwell grunt. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I'm sure Cosmo will be fine. The bad news is, I'm really too tired right now to be sure. So goodni-"

"NO!" Wanda shouted. She immediately covered her mouth as Juandissimo stopped laughing and turned to her.

"Who are you talking to, mi amor?" he asked in a sickly sweet voice, snatching the handset away from Wanda's weak, shaky grasp. He put it to her ear. "Hola," he greeted the fairy on the other end of the line.

"J- Juandissimo Magnifico?" Studwell asked. His voice suddenly took on the pitch and tone of a frightened squirrel in his apparent fear; it was completely unrecognizable.

"Si."

Studwell squeaked and there was a click. Juandissimo's eyes narrowed and he threw the receiver to the floor with such force that it smashed as it hit the carpet, remaining to be nothing but an electric corpse of broken wires and plastic. "Who was that, Wanda?" he asked, the sugary tone in his deep voice evaporating completely.

Wanda opened her mouth to give a smart-ass comment that she would have likely regretted, but a low "poof" sound came from the back of the room and Juandissimo spun around.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, cocking his head to one side a bit.

Studwell responded with a squeak similar to the one he had emitted on the phone, and picked up Cosmo hurriedly but gently. As he raised his wand, Juandissimo took a swing at him, but luckily Studwell disappeared just before he took a hit in the face.

Wanda made the mistake of laughing as his hand hit the dresser. She stopped herself as Juandissimo faced her and appeared behind her with impossible speed (and he didn't use magic; Wanda could tell because both of their wands were now on the floor.) "You will submit to me, Wanda," he growled, his hot breath ragged in her ear. "You have hurt me. But we can put it behind us."

"WHAT?" Wanda shrieked, jumping away and grabbing her wand. It lit up as she soundproofed the room, knowing that she and Juandissimo were on their way to a shout-fest. There was no way Poof was going to hear any of this! "You beat me! You raped me! You took away everything I loved!"

Juandissimo knocked the wand from her hand and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him and forcefully kissing her. She wanted to push him away, but she knew that would only make him get more aggressive.

When the kiss was over, she felt his strong, calloused hands slipping up her nightgown. Wanda yelped and grabbed his wrists, trying to push them out of her "area". "Give it up, Juandissimo! I don't love you! I never will! Stop all of this... this _idiocy _and we can live our lives!"

"I want to live my life with you, Wanda," Juandissimo retorted, twisting her hands the wrong way and making her let go. "That is what love is."

"You don't love me!" Wanda hissed, again feeling his hands softly ascending up to her chest. "You're obsessed with me. There's a big difference."

Juandissimo's eyes took on a bit of a curious look. "And what might be the difference? I am too sexy to go on not knowing." His hands stopped at the curve in her torso as he was now distracted by Wanda's claim.

Wanda's magenta eyes narrowed. _Sexy? Right. Only to a masochist whore, _she thought. _Can't you see that-_

"Answer me!"

Juandissimo's yell jolted her from her thoughts. "O- okay." She took a deep breath. "You're obsessed. When you're obsessed, you stalk them. You hurt them. When you're obsessed, you feel like if you can't have them, nobody can." She looked up at him with a burning pink glare. "It's what you do."

"And what is love?" Juandissimo asked, leaning in closer to her.

"Love is when you want them to be near you, but you respect what they want and if they leave you, you leave them alone and take the hint. All you want is for them to be happy, even if they're happy without you. Love is when you know that you want to be with them forever. Love is when the thought of something happening to them tears you apart. Love is when you'd never want to hurt them." She lowered her gaze and closed her eyes, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. "Love is... love is what Cosmo does."

Juandissimo immediately snapped and pushed her against the wall. Wanda's wings (which she had repaired with Cosmo's wand earlier that day) shattered again and she screamed, squirming in Juandissimo's grasp. "Don't say his name!" Juandissimo ordered, ripping off Wanda's lemon-yellow nightgown. "Don't say it."

Wanda would've liked to knee him in the crotch, but he must have thought of that because he grabbed her legs and held them there as he summoned his wand. He held it in his teeth like a rose.

Wanda gasped. "How did you do that? Only Anti-Fairies can..." she trailed, not needing to finish the sentence.

Juandissimo grinned and the wand lit up, making his shirt disappear to reveal his perfectly toned chest and abs. To Wanda, they seemed to be far from perfect; they seemed utterly repulsive, like the person who had them. "Would you like to go slow, Wanda?" he asked, knowing she really had no choice whatsoever. "Or do you want to submit to me now?"

"I'll never submit to you!" Wanda growled, fighting although she knew it was futile.

"But then I may have to take you by force," Juandissimo told her through the wand in his teeth, "and that would be muy malo." When Wanda did not respond, the wand lit up again, making everything else that covered them evaporate and Juandissimo continued to force himself on her, into her, making Wanda wonder what she ever did to deserve this.

The question had always confused her, along with another: how could something that felt beautiful, gratifying and pleasurable when she was with Cosmo feel so terrible, vulgar and painful when she was with Juandissimo?

The answer that had eluded her for so long now dawned on her, and it felt so obvious now. It was because she loved Cosmo, not Juandissimo, and to her it felt wrong to do anything with anyone else. How could she have not realized it? Summing all of the strength she had left (which wasn't a lot), she rose her hand and hit her attacker.

"Do not fight me, Wanda," Juandissimo warned her as he took the slap in the face.

Don't fight? What else was there to do? She had lost her friends to this fiend, he had taken away her mother, and she would probably now lose Cosmo. And Poof! What would Juandissimo do to Poof? Fighting was all she had left.

And so, that's what she did. She fought until she did not have the will to go on, until she no longer had the energy left to cry, left to scream, left to care.

:::

Chester looked at Timmy and AJ, shocked. "Someone killed Remy?" he squeaked. "I know the dude was a jerk, but _killing _him? What the heck? He wasn't _that _bad..." He turned to his buck-toothed friend. "Timmy, you knew him best. Who would to this?"

"I can't tell you," Timmy stated honestly.

AJ's eyes narrowed. "Was it _you_?" he asked.

Timmy took a bit to catch on. Then, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "You think _I _killed him?" Timmy exclaimed, suddenly angry. "I'm not a killer!"

AJ crossed his arms. "Well, it's like Chester said, you knew him best. Plus, you hated his guts! It's highly probable that-"

"How can you two think this of me?" he bellowed, making the heads of some of the policemen and women turn his way. "I could never kill someone!"

The woman- Timmy assumed she was Remy's mother- looked at him and stopped crying. "You knew my little boy?" she asked, walking up to him and leaving her husband to speak with another officer.

"Yes," he replied. "I'm Timmy Turner."

"Oh!" The woman nodded. "I thought I recognized you! Remy has a picture of you an his wall. He throws darts at it."

"...Right." Had Timmy been in anime, he would have sweatdropped.

"Who would do this to Remy?" she asked, tears in her eyes again.

Timmy sighed. "I would tell you, Mrs. Buxaplenty, but..." he looked away. "you'd think I was crazy."

:::

Juandissimo hovered in the dark room, Remy laying cold and still in his arms. Those pesky human policemen came and interfered with his plan, but what mattered was that he was here now with the prize: a human child, something the Father had been requesting for quite a while.

"I see that you have it?" A voice, soprano but somehow ominous, echoed off the somewhat grimy walls of the dungeon.

"Si, Father. I have your request." Juandissimo bowed his head in respect, not knowing which way to face as it was so dim.

"About time, son." He came forward and tapped Juandissimo's forehead. "Head up, Juandissimo. Now, tell me, why did you kill this human child? You know I do not accept unjustified murders."

"He knew too much."

"How cliche," scoffed the Father, hands on his hips. "What did he know?"

"He knew of my abusing Wanda," Juandissimo replied, not daring to look the Father directly in the eyes. It was something he had learned to avoid since childhood. One look in those venomous eyes could render you helpless...

Juandissimo shuddered as the Father touched his shoulder. "I see. Bring him here; I am excited to taste young human essence. I found that teenager- Vicky, was it?- to be too sour for my tastes."

The Hispanic fairy bowed his head and obeyed, kneeling down and holding the small boy up to the Father. The Father grinned, observing Remy's pale figure. "Strangulation," he murmured. "Keeps the blood from being damaged. Good work, son."

Juandissimo kept his head down and smiled.

The Father took a clawed finger and ran it lightly across Remy's wrist. A visible wound soon appeared, but no blood flowed as it was not moving. Lifting up Remy's arm, he flicked his forked tongue over the deep scrape, savoring the iron taste of the human's essence._ Young blood,_ he thought. _Even better than that of a fairy._

"Are you pleased?" Juandissimo asked hopefully.

"Indeed I am, son," came the response. "Indeed I am."

:::

I probably didn't really capture Wanda's feelings here. I can't really say I know how it feels... I myself have never been raped (fortunately). I also didn't write as much as I could have, because I'm thirteen and if I my mother sees this... Yeah. I shouldn't even know what masochist means, but there you are.

Anyway, make sure to tell me what you think. Until next update!

~Mikichu


	7. Inside

Huh, I guess the Father wasn't as obvious as I thought. O.o Ah well, that just makes it better! :D Some people who messaged me were WAY off. Someone thought it was Nega-Timmy, which now that I think of it makes sense, but no, that's pretty far off. Sorry.

Also, I gave Mama Cosma a first name: Celice (pronounces sell-EES).

You also may have noticed I added Chapter names. I'm finally creative enough to add them! Yay!

On with the story...

:::

Mama Cosma screamed and dropped the phone.

"Celice? Hello? Are you there?" Dr. Studwell's voice came through the phone in a half-worried, half-exasperated tone. "Don't cut out on me, goddammit!"

Mama Cosma scooped up the handset and put it to her ear again. "Sorry. You... you scared me."

"Duh."

"Are you sure...?" she asked, her voice quavering as she was on the verge of tears. "Are you sure that... he's..."

"Listen, Celice. I'm a fairy doctor. I am quite sure indeed," Studwell told her. "I was trained to never make mistakes. I saw Juandissimo there with my own eyes. He really did a number on your son."

"But-"

"Did _you _go to medical school?" Studwell asked, obviously very annoyed now. "If you're so concerned about him, come and visit him."

"He's in good enough shape for that?"

"_Yes, _you poor, neurotic mother figure, he's in good enough shape for you to visit him," Studwell growled. "He woke up three hours ago, and besides-"

"_**Three hours?" **_Mama Cosma shrieked, taking the handset from her ear to her mouth so she could shout at it. "Why didn't you call me then?"

"I was busy taking care of him," the doctor replied, his voice smooth again. "You know, medicine, exams, having a quick eighteen holes of golf... it was either call you or let him die and **BAM**! I'd be over par, leading to a cycle of depression that would make me take worse care of my patients. Which would you prefer?"

Mama Cosma merely sighed in response to the rhetorical question. "When could I see him?"

"Now, if you want."

Mama Cosma dropped the phone, not caring to hang it up, and grabbed her coat. Flying out the door as fast as she could, she prayed that Cosmo would be okay.

"Celice? Celice, hello? Goddammit, Celice, you have to remember to hang up the freaking phone!"

:::

Darkness.

Nothing but the blackness of oblivion, nothing but the cold embrace of the knowledge that you are dead. You don't dare open your eyes, for fear of what you might see; the fires of Hell, the Grim Reaper, or the worst thing: absolutely nothing at all. You don't dare try to speak, for fear you may not hear anything. You do not dare move, for fear that you simply cannot.

_What did I do to deserve this? _

_I did what anyone else would have.  
_

_I told him what happened._

_And I die for it?_

_How cruel and absurd._

_Perhaps I should have kept it to myself._

_But then he would've still killed me._

_He knew I was watching._

_He knew that I knew._

_What use would it have been to keep it to myself?_

_Why did this have to happen?_

_I had so much ahead of me._

_I'm only thirteen, goddammit!_

_Thirteen!_

_Dead, at thirteen?_

_But I know I did the right thing.  
_

_I did the right thing._

_I did the right thing._

"Open your eyes, Buxaplenty." The voice was soft and comforting. It sounded light, airy and female. "You are safe here."

He hesitated, unsure of whether he could trust whoever was speaking. "Who are you?" he asked quietly, keeping his eyes firmly shut.

"My name is Clarice," she replied. "Open your eyes, Remy. I will not hurt you."

Remy slowly opened his bright green eyes and was confounded by his surroundings. It was as if he were floating in midair. All around him was a strange, black void, with different colourful figures dancing around everywhere. It gave the place a mystical feel.

"See? You are safe from him here."

His eyes shifted toward the speaker. She had on a tattered white dress and a veil. She looked like a dead bride you would see in a horror movie; her face was sad and perfect, save the long scar that went through her eye and down to her neck, and her body was lean. Her light lavender eyes were soft and had a welcoming feel. Her dark violet hair, which reminded Remy of the colour of Juandissimo's eyes, swirled in the low gravity with her torn gown, as if she were underwater. "Don't worry about a thing. We are alone. There is no one here to harm you."

"Where am I?" Remy asked, his voice overwhelmingly shaky.

"You are in the world of the dead."

"I know," Remy replied. "Where in that world?"

"You are in the soul-trap," Clarice answered.

"Are you a fairy?" Remy asked, noticing the broken, bug-like wings protruding from one of the gashes in her dress.

"Yes."

"Where's your crown?"

"He broke it."

"Who?"

Clarice was silent for a moment. "You ask, many questions, Remy."

"Sorry, but I'm just curious as to what happened to you," Remy replied.

The dead fairy-bride smiled. "No need to apologize, Remy. Questions are good things."

"Right. So who broke your crown?"

"The Father did," came the vague rely.

"And who is the 'Father'?"

Clarice looked down. "I only came here to retrieve your spirit and take it to the Upperplace. Not to talk of my murder."

"But you said-"

"There is a limit, Remy."

"...Okay then."

Clarice stretched her hand out. "Come with me, Remy, and we can join your fellow dead in the mind of our captor."

Remy hesitated, glancing at her visibly smooth hand. He noted the perfectly manicured fingernails; they were a light gray with white flowers on them. "How do I know you're not a demon or an Anti-Fairy in disguise? Or even a troll or something? How do I know you're not trying to eat my soul?"

"Your soul has already been consumed," Clarice retorted calmly.

Remy's eyes grew wide. "What?" he cried. "Didn't you just say that you came to take my spirit to the 'Upperplace', or whatever you call it?"

"He has consumed my soul as well," Clarice explained. "Your fellow dead are all inside of his body. The Upperplace is where we reside; it is his mind, the only place where we are safe."

Remy was positively confounded. "You mean I'm _inside _someone?"

Clarice nodded. "Yes, Remy. You are inside the Father."

:::

Mama Cosma skidded in mid-flight as she sharply turned a corner at high speed. Her mind repeated the same three numbers over and over, refusing to let them slip away until they became embedded in her subconscious.

_Floor One_

_Section Five_

_Room Eighteen_

_Floor One_

_Section Five_

_Room Eighteen_

She glanced up at the golden numbers on the white doors as she passed them and jolted to a quick (and somewhat painful) halt as she rammed into Cupid, who had been looking at some charts on a clipboard as he hovered down the hallway.

"Oh! Hello, Celice!"

"Cupid?" she inquired. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a doctor here," he explained, grinning.

"What? Aren't you the god of love or something?"

Cupid chuckled. "Hey, I have to do _something _when it isn't Valentine's Day, don't I?" he asked, a slight hint of amusement in his tone. "Besides, haven't you ever heard of 'dying from a broken heart'? I help with that." Cupid paused. "Uh... the healing, that is. Not the dying." He looked down at his twiddling thumbs as he made his clipboard hover beside his head. "Well, that isn't the only reason," he admitted sheepishly. "Sometimes Juandissimo volunteers here, and-"

"What?" Mama Cosma hissed. "Juandissimo?" Wasn't he the one who had almost killed her son _twice _now?

"What?" Cupid asked innocently. "The god of love needs love too. My relationship with that Greek lady didn't go so well. Dripping hot lantern wax all over me..." He sighed. "Women. I'm _Cupid_, and I still don't understand them. Ah, well." His expression took on a dreamy one. "I still have Juandissimo. I just need to get close enough to him with one of my arrows..."

Mama Cosma was confused for a moment. "Huh? No, that's fine. Just... don't you think Juandissimo shouldn't be at a hospital? With dying people?"

Cupid shrugged. "No. He actually takes well to someone dying in front of him. You'd think he'd feel sick, but no, he's totally fine." He paused. "Oddly fine, now that I think of it."

_The poor bastard, _Mama Cosma thought bitterly, _he's fallen in love with that... ugh! I don't even have a word for him. It's really no wonder why he's so good in the presence of death when he's causing it more than half the time! _She took a deep breath and looked Cupid dead in the eye. "Where is he now?"

Cupid shrugged. "I don't really know. I don't keep track of where he is all the time. I'm not a stalker. Puh-leez!" He flipped his hand in a rather flamboyant gesture. "Stalkers are _so _last century."

Mama Cosma blinked. "Right. So he's not here."

"Nope."

She sighed, leaning against the white wall.

"What? Were you looking for him?" Cupid asked, grabbing his clipboard. "You sound irritated."

"No. No, just never mind."

"...Okay."

"Where's room eighteen?" Mama Cosma inquired, desperate to get off the topic of Juandissimo.

"Oh, you're visiting Cosmo," Cupid grinned. "Duh. Silly me!" He flipped his hand again. "Two doors down. He's on the left. Poor guy," he muttered. "He was within an inch of his life when Studwell brought him here! I asked Studwell what happened to him. He wouldn't tell me. Wonder why..." He pondered this as he hovered down the hall, leaving Mama Cosma alone.

Mama Cosma knocked on the thick wooden door of Cosmo's room. She dimly heard Studwell's voice through the it: "See, Cosmo? They haven't abandoned you! Someone's visiting. Come in!"

She slowly turned the silver knob and peered inside. Cosmo was laying in a hospital cot, the blankets up to his chin, with various magically powered machines strapped to his neck and wrists (his arms were out from under the sheets). His large green eyes were shut tight, as if he were in pain, and Studwell was sitting beside him on a stool- one of the three beside the cot- and taking notes on a chart that looked similar to the one Cupid had been carrying. _At least he doesn't need support to breathe, _Mama Cosma thought thankfully. _He might even be able to talk!_

Her theory was confirmed when Cosmo groaned and said, "W-Wanda? Is that you?" His voice was airy and weak, as if it hurt him to talk.

"No, it's your mother," Mama Cosma retorted, forcing down her urge to grind her teeth at the image of her pink-haired rival.

"Where's Wanda?" Cosmo sounded really worried.

"How should I know?" Mama Cosma snorted. "She's probably back in that little fishbowl-"

"You mean she's _alone _with Juandissimo?" Cosmo shrieked- or attempted to, anyway; it sounded more like a horse whisper-, opening his eyes. His mother could see the deep worry for his wife that filled them. What disturbed Mama Cosma was that there was no worry for himself in Cosmo's gaze. Only worry for the woman that took him away, for the fiend that caused all the pain he had gone and was going through.

"Did someone say 'Juandissimo'?" A rather hopeful-looking Cupid appeared in the doorway. "Is he here?"

"N-no," Studwell told the pink love god. Merely the mention of the Hispanic fairy obviously shook him. "He's not here."

Cupid's eyes widened. "Why did you just stutter?" he hissed. "You're smitten with him too? Never! Juandissimo is _mine!_" He flapped his feathery wings and quickly shot down the hall, muttering jealous ramblings.

Mama Cosma wasn't sure whether she should laugh or just stay silent. Cosmo was obviously sensitive to the topic of Juandissimo, so she tried changing the subject. "Cosmo-lolo, let's not worry about that now. How about we talk about something else?"

"Not worry about Juandissimo being alone with Wanda?" Cosmo looked about ready to cry. "I know you hate her, but why are you being so mean? I love her, Mama, and... and he's hurting her!" He looked away from his mom, sniffing. "I don't want her to get hurt."

"Nonsense, it'll be fine," Mama Cosma assured him.

"No, Mama, it won't be fine," Cosmo murmured bitterly, choking back a sob. "Not as long as Juandissimo's breathing."

:::

Right. So, I had to include Mama Cosma in this story. Come on, I love writing for her! Her hatred for Wanda makes her quite amusing.

And yes, I'm a Juandissimo/Cupid shipper. Deal. It's one-sided in this story, okay, haters? Don't kill me. Besides, who doesn't like angry Cupid? I like writing for that little guy when he's mad. (Points to my first FOP fic- this is my second, so cut me slack if it's sub-par-, What You Know Can Hurt Others, where Cupid melts into a puddle when he's mad at Timmy.)

Yes, so Clarice makes a second appearance. She's important, guys. Pay attention, and make sure to keep watch for updates! I'm on a rampage for this story, so they'll be coming quick!

~Mikichu


	8. Taken Away

Well... I WAS on a rampage until I got to Timmy... I can never write for that kid!

Those who haven't, check out my profile! I have some good news for those who read "What You Know Can Hurt Others", especially the people who hated the ending (which is the majority of those who read it. Sigh.)!

Also, just to clarify, Juandissimo isn't involved with Cupid. He only wants Wanda. Cupid would just like him to be involved, however. Just so aren't confused later on.

:::

"Officer Truden!"

The raven-haired officer took her attention away from Remy's grieving mother and Timmy to the rookie behind her. She was a short, lean woman with long blond hair that streamed behind her like a yellow silk curtain and green eyes that looked large and scared. Truden's eyes narrowed. "What is it, rookie?"

"The body's gone!"

Truden's narrowed eyes flew open with a look that slashed somewhere between confusion and frustration. "What? You've got to be kidding me, Penner. How could the body disappear, just like that?"

"I- I don't know!" Penner wailed, sinking to her knees. "I turned my back for one second, and he... he was gone! Only the belt was there... and there were burn marks on the wall!"

"Oh, get up!" Truden ordered. "You're more hysterical than his Mrs. Buxaplenty!" She jerked a calloused thumb at Remy's mother, who was now on her knees and sobbing on Timmy's head, the dirt on the sidewalk ruining her beautiful white designer dress. "Show me."

"Can I come in too?" Timmy pleaded. "I knew Remy really well... maybe I could help you find his killer?"

"We'll save that for the interrogation," Truden snapped. "No unauthorized personnel allowed on this crime scene!"

"But-"

"We'll fill you in on what we saw," Penner offered, earning herself an annoyed glare from her senior officer. "What? He wants to know."

Truden rolled her eyes and muttered something about idiocy, walking up to Remy's room after picking up her forensic kit. She looked around the corner and gasped as she saw that Penner had been telling the truth; Remy's body was gone, the belt dangling from the ceiling fan. On the wall beside his four-poster bed were the words "_Honesty is swallowed by the shadows. Darkness reigns." _in what appeared to be scorch marks._  
_

Truden could to nothing but stand with her mouth open. She could have sworn that those burn marks weren't there before! What was happening to this case? "All right, ladies," she growled more to herself than anyone, "it's time to man up. We've got a real sicko on our hands."

:::

Timmy flopped down on his bed, awaiting the arrival of his new babysitter. A few weeks before, he would have fainted in joy hearing that Vicky had disappeared, but now he had a sickening feeling that a certain Hispanic fairy had something to do with it. His parents, being the idiots they were, said that he could take care of himself until his babysitter- his name was Antonio or something like that- arrived, and had left to go to a "Parents Only Convention". (Those conventions, Timmy had discovered, were loads of crap that his parents made up so they could have nights out. Why couldn't they just be honest for once?)

The events of the day spun around him. How could Juandissimo kill his own godchild? What was that monster going to do to him? How could Chester and AJ, his closest friends, accuse him of killing someone? It seemed the whole world was falling apart, and Timmy was at the center.

He rolled over, staring at his fishbowl. Where were Cosmo and Wanda? Poof wasn't even there! Did Juandissimo get to them too? Had he gotten sick of chasing Wanda around and finally snapped?

But then why didn't Juandissimo go after him as well?

This all had to be some part of a huge plot. It just had to be! Timmy had battled so many villains over and over before, and the reason they didn't take him out was consistent: he was a pawn in their large chess game of dominance. They needed him alive so they could use him, hurt him, humiliate him, or even the odd time genuinely befriend him. It was that one thing that all the villains shared that had kept him alive over all of the deadly schemes.

But what was the plot? That was the main question. Timmy was still chasing after Trixie, yes, so he knew how if felt to be in love. But he would never dare to hurt her in any way! So what made Juandissimo hurt Wanda? As far as Timmy knew, (and that was a lot,) Wanda hadn't done anything to hurt him other than ending the relationship. And Juandissimo had been abusing her before that! And now, after so long, Juandissimo was still trying to woo her, still following her, still obsessing over her. And what did he call it? He called it love.

Love? It was more like rape! What was wrong with him? When Cosmo and Wanda got married, that's when most guys would call it quits and get over it. Why couldn't he stop looking for Wanda's love? Why couldn't he stop seeking something that simply wasn't there? It sickened Timmy. The mere thought of doing something so terrible to anyone, even an enemy, was something the teen just couldn't comprehend.

Maybe he just didn't understand because he was so young.

"Hello?" a strong voice, accompanied by three knocks on the bedroom door, distracted Timmy from his thoughts. "It is Antonio. I am here to babysit you, Timmy."

Timmy opened the door and was about to scream for someone- not that anyone would hear him anyway as a hand was firmly clamped across his mouth.

"Hola, Turner," Juandissimo grinned. "Do try to not scream. It would be muy bueno of you." He slowly removed his hand from Timmy's face.

He should have known as soon as "Antonio" was mentioned! And how could he have not recognized that voice? "What do you want? If you're going to kill me, get it over with."

"No, Timothy," Juandissimo replied, once again gagging Timmy with his palm. "I want much more from you than your life."

:::

Wanda lay in a fetal position on the carpet, naked, whimpering now and then but otherwise making no sound. Juandissimo was long gone, but she didn't really care. He could do anything he wanted to her as long as Wanda cared. Nothing really mattered anymore.

Not with Cosmo so close to death.

How long had it been? An hour? Two? Three? The scent of Cosmo's lyvium was now very sweet- and therefore it had been out for a long time. It smelled like someone who had sprayed on way too much cotton candy perfume. The scent was terrible, and it stung Wanda's eyes with tears.

Where was Timmy? He would have called her by now...

Wait.

Juandissimo.

Oh god! Juandissimo had Timmy!

Wanda slowly stood up, shaking, and snatched some clean clothes and poofed out of the fishbowl to Timmy's room (Juandissimo, now that he had finally hunted her down and violated her, had left her wand on the floor). The thirteen-year-old boy was nowhere to be seen.

Wanda gulped. Who knew what Juandissimo was doing to him?

:::

Timmy woke up in a small, dark room, unable to see a thing. He was obviously tied up and he felt a thick, rough piece of cloth covering his mouth and freakishly large buck teeth.

"Hola." Juandissimo's deep voice sliced through the darkness. "You are awake."

"Why did you let him live?" A voice that seemed somehow familiar to Timmy accompanied the Hispanic's somewhat ominous greeting.

"Why not let you make the kill for once?" Juandissimo replied smoothly. "I should not have all the fun."

The other voice was silent for a moment. "Very well." A harsh red light flicked on and the second speaker grinned. "Greetings, Timothy."

"Mphoo!" Timmy shouted, trying to yell out "You!".

"Yes, we've met previously. You may address me as the 'Father'."

Timmy's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

"What is the matter, Turner?" Juandissimo asked mockingly. "Has a cat got your tongue?"

Timmy swore behind his gag; it came out more audible than he intended.

"Language, child," Juandissimo scolded him. "It would be muy-"

"Oh, stop it," the Father snarled. "You don't really have an accent. You barely even know a _bit _of Spanish!"

"Pardon moi!"

"That's French."

"Dammit!"

The Father turned to Timmy, grinning. "My apologies. We got sidetracked. Now, how would you like to 'go out', as you humans put it? Quickly? Slowly?" He took the gag from Timmy's mouth with one gloved hand.

"How about not at all?" Timmy growled.

"You know that I can't do that," the Father replied calmly.

"You could."

"But then you would be left with the knowledge that I am the Father," he spat back, suddenly losing his calm air. "You insolent child. How stupid do you think I am!"

"I think you must be smart," Timmy backtracked. "After all, you _are_-"

"Shut your mouth!" Juandissimo ordered. "Father?"

"Yes?"

"May I speak alone with you?"

The Father's eyes narrowed. "What can you not discuss in front of the dead? They keep secrets fairly well."

Timmy's eyebrows scrunched together in rage. "Hey! I'm still alive!"

"Not for long," Juandissimo told the young boy. "Father, this is muy important."

The Father's eye twitched at the attempted Spanish. "Very well." He turned on his heel and left Timmy behind with Juandissimo following closely. He slammed the door behind him as he made sure Juandissimo got through. "What is it, son?" he asked, his tone more aggravated than maternal. "I have this child to kill, and I also have a date night with my wife." His expression became somewhat dreamy. "Where is my little duchess of darkness, anyhow?"

Juandissimo smirked. "Cancel your date night, Father."

The Father looked confounded. "What?"

"I have something to show you."

The Father cocked his head to one side and hesitantly followed Juandissimo as he walked down to the dungeon the Father kept in the basement of his castle. "What is down here?" he inquired, a bit frightened for his own safety. "Juandissimo! Show me!"

"As you wish." Juandissimo raised his wand, lighting up the room.

The Father gasped and said nothing in his pure shock and internal agony.

"I had not a choice," Juandissimo defended himself. "She discovered what we were doing!"

"You... you killed my wife!" the Father finally managed, feeling a mix of betrayal and deep sorrow.

"I had to!" Juandissimo bellowed, heightening his emotional defenses. "She knew too much!"

Laying there, chained to the wall by the one arm that was still attached to her body, was the bloody, distorted corpse of Anti-Wanda.

:::

Dun dun duuun! The Father revealed! HAHA! Caught you off-guard!

...Okay. I know Anti-Fairies don't have forked tongues, but they should. *sweatdrop*

~Mikichu


	9. Screaming

Kudos to anyone who guessed that I named the lady "Clarice" because Anti-Cosmo says "Hello, Clarice," or "Clarice, is that you?" all the time. If you didn't... well...

I dunno. I've got nothing.

Anyway, seeing as most of you guessed AC (or claimed to, anyway) I have to say congrats. (Hands you all cookies.)

:::

"This is no different than what happened to your last wife," Juandissimo reasoned after a long, awkward silence.

"But I didn't love her," Anti-Cosmo whispered shakily, keeping his head down so he wouldn't have to look at the woman he loved in such a terrible state. "Clarice was a pawn. I used her so I could breed the perfect servant. Then I used her magic to age you so no one would be suspicious of you. But that didn't work, did it?" His head slowly rose and he gave his son a venomous pine-green glare that made Juandissimo a bit frightened for his life. "Wanda guessed your half-Anti-Fairy heritage. Your skin and hair; both of them were too dark for you to be a fairy."

"It was quite racist of her."

"If you were _humans,_ perhaps it would have been," Anti-Cosmo growled. "But you were living amongst the fairies. Many paid no attention to your dark features, but she did. And you went and fell in love with the bitch!"

"Language, Father." As soon as he said it, Juandissimo winced, knowing he had said the wrong thing.

"Language? I'm a feeling a bit too bloody betrayed to worry about my language!" came the aggravated retort. "I ordered you to kill her to conceal our secret, but did you do it? No! You loved her. So what did you do? You hurt her so much that you made her _want _to die!"

"She refused to make love to me!" Juandissimo spat. "She said she was looking for 'el uno'. It should have been me!" Clenching his fists and teeth, he repeated: "It should have been me."

"So you raped her." Anti-Cosmo snorted. "You always had self-control issues as a child."

With lightning speed, Juandissimo grabbed on to his father's neck and held him firmly against the wall. "Do not mock me!"

Anti-Cosmo looked strangely calm. "Go ahead," he wheezed. "Kill me. I am nothing without her."

Juandissimo gave Anti-Cosmo an interrogative look and slowly lifted his palm from his parent's throat. "Go on, Father," he hissed. "Tell me of the wrong things I did to her."

"Going through everything would leave me with little time to kill Beaver Boy." Anti-Cosmo gave a bit of a chuckle. "Beaver Boy. That's good. I should write that one down..."

"You won't be alive long enough to!" Juandissimo growled.

Anti-Cosmo responded with a dismissive shrug and a sad stare. "Do as you wish."

"You infuriate me," Juandissimo told the blue creature.

"Noted." Anti-Cosmo glanced at his wife's body and choked back a sob. She would have been too stupid to do anything with the information anyway! She would have played along if Anti-Cosmo had told her to forget about it. Anti-Wanda wouldn't have had to die, especially as painfully as it appeared she had. Dammit! Why couldn't Juandissimo think these things through? "You do realize that in killing Anti-Wanda, you have sentenced her counterpart to damnation?"

Juandissimo blinked. "What?"

"Fairies and Anti-Fairies are two halves of a whole," Anti-Cosmo explained. "Didn't you ever wonder why Anti-Clarice suddenly vanished when I murdered her fairy-self? Fairies and Anti-Fairies cannot live without their counterparts!"

"I thought it was something of an 'evil-twin' thing."

"You thought wrong!" Anti-Cosmo snarled. "She will vanish in a matter of time! Did you ever wonder why Cosmo never died? I was too powerful with the souls I had consumed! I was keeping him alive!"

Juandissimo's violet eyes narrowed. "You traitor!"

"_I'm_ a traitor?" Anti-Cosmo snarled. "You killed my wife!"

"That is not all I did, I confess," Juandissimo admitted, lowering his gaze to the floor. The fear for himself he was experiencing was the closest thing he had ever felt to shame or regret for anything he had ever done.

Anti-Cosmo was silent for a moment, and then asked in a quiet, horrified voice, "No, Juandissimo. You did no such thing. You..."

Juandissimo kept his head down. "She bears such an uncanny resemblance to Wanda... her body has the same curves, her hair has the same curls... I... I could not help myself. She looked so much like the one I loved..." He looked up and grinned evilly. "And she had never gone through it. It was like the innocent teenage Wanda again, save her crooked teeth."

He emitted a low, eerie chuckle at the memory of it.

_"Hola? Is anyone here?"_

_Anti-Wanda turned around in her room, tugging her shirt down over her stomach as she had been in the midst of taking it off. "Oh! Howdy. Didn't see ya there. Whatcha need?"_

_"I only want to speak to you for uno momento."_

_She gave him a look of confusion. "What language is **that**? I can't understand a word ya'll are sayin'."_

_"I just need one moment," Juandissimo repeated._

_"Ah. Aite, what is it?"_

_"Follow me, senorita."_

_Anti-Wanda hesitated, not knowing whether she could trust a fairy. But, she remembered, Anti-Cosmo hadn't seemed too harsh towards Juandissimo, so she should be the same. After a bit of a pause, she followed him downstairs to the dungeon- which, she recalled, hadn't had a prisoner in centuries._

_"Whadda we doin' down here? I don't wanna be down here long, kay? I gots a date with Anti-Cosmo later." She folded her arms over her chest and looked around. "I dunno how he stands havin' this place down here! It gives me the creepies!"_

_Juandissimo grinned in response. "I think the setting is perfecto for our last encounter."_

_"Last?" Anti-Wanda inquired. "You leavin' or somethin'?"_

_"Oh no, Anti-Wanda," Juandissimo chided the hickish woman. "It is you who is leaving."_

_Anti-Wanda stared blankly at him for a moment, and then the words registered, making here eyes widen and fill with tears. "Wh- what? H- he's leavin' me? N- no! That ain't right! He l- loves me!"_

_"Si, that he does."_

_"Then why is he leavin'?"_

_Juandissimo shook his head like a parent disappointed with a slow child. "Can you not see? He is not leaving you." He grabbed Anti-Wanda's neck and slammed her against the wall with such force that a few bats flew off, frightened by the impending fight. "It is you who is leaving him."_

_"N- no!" Anti-Wanda wheezed, fighting for breath. "I'll never leave him! He's mah husband, I can't just leave him when I love him so much! When I said 'till death' I meant it!"_

_"You do not understand, do you?" Juandissimo growled, putting a finger under her chin. "Death **will **part you. It will part you today."_

_"You're gonna..." Anti-Wanda trailed and Juandissimo was struck with a feeling that could only be described as pure sadism. Those cold, frightened eyes reminded of Juandissimo of Wanda too much for him to not do something._

_"Yes," Juandissimo nodded, answering the unuttered question. "That will happen, but first...something else." _

_He took his wand from his belt and it lit up as he released Anti-Wanda, and both of their clothing seemed to evaporate off of them. Anti-Wanda shrieked and ran into a cell, locking it. She sat down in a fetal position, with her hands over her breasts and her legs covering her entrance. "D- don't you touch me! Anti-Cozzie! Where are ya? Help me!"_

_"You silly woman." Juandissimo poofed into the cell with ease, leaning over Anti-Wanda menacingly. "You have just locked yourself inside your cell."_

_"M- mah cell?"_

_"Si," Juandissimo grinned. "Time to play." He knelt down, kissed the Anti-Fairy forcefully, and grabbed her legs, wrenching them apart and forcing himself inside. He winced as Anti-Wanda's screaming pierced his ears, and he clamped a hand over her mouth and wrapped his free arm around Anti-Wanda's torso, keeping her where he wanted._

_He could hear Anti-Wanda screaming her husband's name under his hand in her cries for help. When she finally realized that Anti-Cosmo did not hear her- or worse, didn't care- she quieted and only emitted the odd whimper, giving up._

_Juandissimo could not help but smile as he looked into the woman's eyes. The look in a female's eyes, he recalled, was always priceless; especially the first time they experienced it. That quiet darkness could never be matched by anything else, and it was that look and that look alone that kept Juandissimo-_

"You raped my wife."

Anti-Cosmo's voice pulled Juandissimo from his thoughts. "Si. What does it matter?"

"What does it matter?" Anti-Cosmo's teeth were clamped together in rage now. "It matters as much as anything matters! I loved her, to start with. She was my wife! My true love! And you expect me to hear you say you raped her and _murdered _her, and not do a thing about it? Just cast her memory away, like a piece of trash? I'd sooner die."

"That could easily be arranged, Father."

Anti-Cosmo's eyebrows only heightened a tad. "So sure of yourself, hm? Care to test your strength?" He pointed his wand at his son and it lit up in a harsh, striking blue.

"F- Father-"

"I have no time for your idiocy!" Anti-Cosmo bared his fangs and a blast of navy light shot from his weapon. "Goodnight."

:::

Timmy heard Juandissimo's scream from where he was tied up. A few moments passed, and there was an eerie silence that made Timmy unsure of whether he should be happy it was quiet or not. He looked around uneasily, scared to make any sound, when he heard another scream- this one higher in pitch, so he guessed it was Anti-Cosmo's- split the air and Timmy's eyebrows slanted together in worry. _That can't be good._

"Timmy?"

Timmy would have spun around, had he not been tied to Anti-Cosmo's throne. "Wanda!" he hissed. "What are you doing here? How did you find me? Where's Poof? Why isn't your hair curly?"

"I knew who the Father was, sport," Wanda explained, floating down and untying Timmy. "I knew you had to be here. It's too obvious that Juandissimo took you. I had no time to do my hair. Poof is-" she was cut off by a long barrage of shouts from downstairs. "Poof's with Jorgen. He needed to be protected."

"Why didn't Juandissimo ever go to Fairy Jail?"

"Not enough physical evidence. Juandissimo argued the sex was consensual and everyone concluded I was just trying to get attention." Wanda looked up. "Everyone but Cosmo..." She snapped out of her dreamy state and grabbed Timmy by the collar. "Come on! Do you want to see Cosmo? He's in the hospital."

"Of course I do!"

Wanda nodded, and flew off just as the screaming downstairs was consumed by a large blast.

:::

The receptionist was relieved when Wanda burst in with Timmy.

"Are you Cosmo's wife?" she asked, hopping out from behind her desk. "And- and godchild?"

"Yes."

"Thank goodness you're here! He's been hurting lately, calling for you. Wanda, right? And Timmy?" She had gold hair and dark yellow eyes that reminded Timmy of thick honey.

Wanda nodded, feeling a bit fuzzy inside at the news that Cosmo wanted her. When she was lead to the room, she heard four voices. The first was...

Cupid? "Cosmo, it's okay! You're fine. It'll only hurt for a little!"

"Get that needle away from me! I hate needles!" That was Cosmo, all right. The receptionist walked away at this point.

"Cosmo, dear, lie still for the nice doctor!" Ugh! She'd have to face Mama Cosma!

"Well, we could put a medicine patch on him. Cupid, I think we should give up on the needle." At least Studwell was there...

"No! I don't wanna do anything!"

_**"But you'll die!" **_Right, Mama Cosma, yell at him that he's doomed! Like that would help. Wanda knew Cosmo well enough to know that if there was one thing Cosmo hated more than being alone it was being yelled at. Whenever Wanda yelled at him (which, although he often angered her with his idiocies, rarely happened; he normally gave her the puppy-dog eyes before she got to the yelling part, and she could never say no to those eyes!), he usually cried afterward, and became quiet for a long time after.

"I don't care! Where's Wanda? I wanna see her!" Wanda couldn't help but smile despite the pain in her husband's voice.

"She's not here! Deal! You would have been better off without her!" Mama Cosma was such a bitch sometimes!

"Celice, don't talk to him about Wanda like that!" Cupid sounded angry, and that surprised Wanda; he barely ever got angry with anyone unless there was a serious problem. "I understand love more than you ever would! Cosmo loves her, and you know what I think? He loves her so much that he would kill himself- _on purpose-_ if she ever left him!"

Wanda wouldn't put it past him to do it.

She turned the knob and peered inside. Cupid and Mama Cosma, along with Studwell, were bending over Cosmo's bed. The first two looked really worried, but Wanda couldn't tell with Studwell as he had his back to her. "Hello?"

That was her first mistake. Mama Cosma was on her like a ravenously hungry dog on a thick steak, and tore into her just a quickly. "You bossy, naggy, overly-controlling _bitch!"_

"Mama Cosma, please! Timmy's right here!" Wanda stated, giving her in-law a harsh pink glare.

"W- Wanda?" Cosmo looked around but could not see her; his mother was blocking his view. "Is that you?"

Wanda tried to push her way past Mama Cosma, but the woman would not budge. "Ohh no! I'm not letting you near my little boy! You've almost killed him twice now!"

"It was Juandissimo that did it," Timmy piped up, hoping he wouldn't awaken Mama Cosma's inner beast any further. "Not Wanda. Wanda would never hurt Cosmo."

"Ha! If you," she pointed accusingly at Wanda, "had never come into my son's life, your crazy little admirer wouldn't have tried to kill him! This is your fault!"

"Mama! I wanna see her!" Cosmo whined.

Mama Cosma glared at her rival for a moment longer, then moved for Timmy and Wanda. She knelt down beside Cosmo and held his hand, stroking it with her thumb. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah." Cosmo grinned at her. "I missed you a lot. I'd hug you but it hurts to sit up."

Wanda didn't return the smile; she only looked worried. "That's not what I'd call 'okay'."

"Meh." Cosmo shrugged and winced as a crack came from his shoulders. "Owwie... it hurts to shrug too."

Wanda looked up at Studwell. "What was that crack?"

"Just some excess air," Studwell assured her. "Like when you crack your knuckles. It's okay."

"Isn't cracking your knuckles bad?" Timmy asked, wandering beside Cupid.

"Only if you do it too much. Trust me, it's okay."

A bit of a pause followed before Cosmo registered that Timmy was there too. "Oh! Hey Timmy! I missed you too."

"I figured," Timmy smiled. "You hate being alone."

"Don't remind me." Cosmo turned to his wife again. "Where's Poof?"

"With Jorgen."

"Did you...?"

Wanda sighed. "Yes, Cosmo. I told him what happened. He didn't believe me. Happy? It's high school all over again."

Cosmo looked down. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, hon." Wanda kissed his cheek and Cosmo couldn't help but grin even more. "It's not your fault."

Mama Cosma pointed to Cupid and curled her finger inwards, telling him to come over to where she was. When he did, she narrowed her eyes. "Why, Cupid? Why did you make my Cosmo-lolo fall in love with that... that whore?"

Cupid looked like he was mad again. "Whore? Mama Cosma, she's known no one else but your son." His angry expression melted into a disappointed one. "...And Juandissimo."

"Juandissimo raped her."

Now the love god looked offended. "What? Never! He would never hurt anyone like that! She was just trying to get attention!" he hissed, crossing his arms defensively. "Cosmo loved Wanda without the help of my arrows! That's a love that's strong, meant to be! Yes, I shot him, but that was because he needed it to get the courage to ask her to date him! I shot Wanda because it's like I said: Meant to be! Hear that? Meant. To. Be! If you don't like it, too bad! If she had stayed with Juandissimo, I wouldn't be able to be with him. Sure, he still loves Wanda, but I'll just stab him with an arrow and we'll be together. I even checked with Jorgen if I could be with Juandi-" he trailed as he looked over Mama Cosma's shoulder. "Speak of the devil, there he is!"

:::

Muahahaha.

Wow, this chapter is looong! Cool.

And sorry for Anti-Wanda. That was my first ever attempt at writing a Southern accent. O.e Fail.

~Mikichu


	10. Too Strange

New summary! YAY!

I'm giving Timmy's parents names as well. I'm too lazy to write "Timmy's mom" and "Timmy's dad", so I'll call them Tara and Thomas, to keep up the apparent trend on T's in the family.

And wowie, 50 reviews! I feel proud when I get 10. O.O Well, it makes me happy to read them. :3 Anyway, without further ado, on with the story!

:::

"So it _was _a murder."

Dr. Erica Stirr nodded, pointing something out on a picture of Remy's body. "See these veins in his eyes? They would be redder if he had been hung. This proves he was asphyxiated and then hung with the belt postmortem. Also," she added, pointing to his neck, "this bruise line indicates a hand was used for the strangulation. A small one at that, too. Like a little kid's."

"Did you get any prints?"

"The forensics got one at the scene before the kid disappeared," Stirr nodded. "It's very strange. It's not like any human fingerprint I've ever seen. Check it out." She handed Kane and Truden some papers, two each. "See that? That's a basic human print." The two officers nodded. "Now look at this." She pointed to the other paper. "Look at the middle."

Truden squinted. "That's... that's quite strange indeed!" she exclaimed. Looking closer, she murmured, "How could something like this ever happen?"

In the middle of the lines on the fingerprint, there was a small, blank space shaped like a star.

:::

Mama Cosma spun around, heart pounding, expecting to see Juandissimo at the door with a knife or something in his hand. Thankfully, she had made a mistake, for it was Jorgen Cupid was talking about and not Juandissimo. Thank god for _that _miscommunication!

"I heard about what happened," Jorgen began. "I thought I might as well see my my closest friend while he was in the hospital."

"Seriously though," Cosmo replied, _"We're_ your closest friends?"

Jorgen rolled his eyes and muttered something about punching people, then took Wanda's arm with one huge finger. "Can I talk to you privately for a moment?" he asked, glancing at Cosmo. "It's about your ex-boyfriend."

Wanda narrowed her eyes. "What about him?"

Jorgen looked away from her, as if he were doing something wrong. "I'll tell you if you'd just let me talk to you."

Wanda looked at Cosmo for a moment, who nodded. Mama Cosma took no hesitation in pushing her aside to see her son.

They walked into the hallway, where a bunch of nurses and interns sped about. "What do you want?" Wanda asked furiously. "I don't want to be reminded of him! When I told you of what he did to me, you announced it and no one believed me! No one! So what do you want to tell me about him? How innocent he is? Just because he volunteers at the hospital doesn't mean he's-"

"Shut up and let me talk, puny fairy!" When Wanda had quieted, he leaned in close and whispered, "I believed you."

"What?" Wanda hissed. "You did? All along?"

Jorgen rolled his eyes. "Not then. I just thought you were being a little skank." This remark earned him a fiery glare from Wanda. "I was one of the few fairies that knew he was the one killing people," Jorgen sighed. "There just wasn't enough physical evidence, so we could never prosecute him. Fairy courts rely on it more than human courts do. Besides, everyone else thought that you were doing it and blaming him. Fairies are peaceful creatures, Wanda, and you should know that. Sometimes they do kill if they have a good reason, but there is never a good reason for rape. They just couldn't believe that a fairy could ever do such a thing." Jorgen stared at her, then continued, "But that's the thing: Juandissimo wasn't a fai... Wanda? Are you okay? You look pale."

"I can't believe..." Wanda didn't finish. She moaned, put her hand on her head, and slowly slipped to the ground.

:::

_Oh, for God's sake, you have got to be kidding!_

Truden stood, fists clenched, on the Turner's doorstep, fighting down the urge to grind her teeth. "Do you have any idea where your son might be?" she asked, hoping her voice wasn't quivering with rage.

Timmy's parents looked at each other and frowned. "No," his mother finally replied. "Tammy wanders off on his own a lot, and takes his fish most of the time. He always comes home after a few hours."

Truden raised an eyebrow and her partner, Kane, let out a bit of a sigh. He had a medium build, with sandy hair and blue eyes. "We should be calling CFS," Kane muttered to the officer beside him. "Parents who just let their kid wander off? And they don't even know his name?"

Truden couldn't help but agree.

"We need him for a homicide investigation," Truden explained, trying to emphasize the importance of the situation. "Timothy is a minor, so we need parental consent."

"Homicide?" Timmy's father jumped into his wife's arms. "We're next! We're next! Tara Turner, I'm sorry for all those things I did! Sock monkeys! That car!" He continued to sob on Tara's shoulder while Truden, pretty much fed up with the idiots, grabbed Kane's clipboard and nearly snapped it in half with fury. (The word "nearly" is used because when she split it, the two pieces weren't equal.)

"Hey, hey, I needed that..." he sighed. "Listen," Kane said, seeing Truden was far too angered to speak any more, "it's important we find your son. He could be in danger of being murdered if we don't."

Tara was extremely troubled. "Timmy's in trouble... Thomas, honey, let go of me, I can hardly breathe." She looked down. "Try Chester's trailer."

"Chester?"

"He's one of Timmy's only friends," his mother explained. "He lives down in the trailer park over there." She pointed west.

Kane looked at his partner. "We passed there on our way here! Come on, Truden, let's go." He took her arm and they both entered the squad car, Truden still on the verge of beating Timmy's parents with the two uneven halves of Kane's clipboard.

:::

The inside of Anti-Cosmo's brain was quite interesting to Remy. He couldn't say it wasn't like he pictured it- most likely because he never thought to do so- but it was never something he would think of. It was a swirling mass of red and black light, with random scenes flashing around in the distance (it was sort of like a rainbow; you could walk toward it but never reach it). Voices echoed throughout the place, though the voices were indistinguishable the words were slurred, and sometimes within these strange, blurred conversations he could hear music; each time he heard it he could make out some lovey lyrics, some of which were very, very depressing.

Clarice had earlier told him who the "Father" was and why, he he immediately felt sorry for the fairy woman. What a terrible world! It confounded Remy how someone could have so little remorse for the things he had done. Sure, he had tried to take Turner's fairies away, but somehow always regretted it in the end. He had explained this to Clarice, but the bride said that Anti-Cosmo had plenty of reasons for doing what he did. When Remy asked, she only walked away and he decided not to press.

He hovered around, glancing at all the other people- or rather, the souls- Anti-Cosmo had inside his mind. As far as he recalled, there were around eight souls there: Wanda's mother, named Aradei, Calypse, a small fairy boy called Ecar, an Anti-Fairy woman named Anti-Sharra, himself, Vicky, a fairy woman named Errari, and, or course, Clarice herself. He enjoyed watching the random scenes flashing by; although they were soundless (perhaps that's where the voices came from?) they provided him with plenty of entertainment. Somehow he liked seeing his captor's memories; most of them, he noted, involved Anti-Wanda.

He turned around as one flashed behind him. This one was quite confusing. A man was standing over him (the man, Remy realized, bore a resemblance to Anti-Cosmo but it was nothing more than slight) with a scarlet cloth in his hand. He bore a gleaming, evil smile, and his bright green eyes (the part where the resemblance seemed strongest, he noticed,) glinted with a hungry look. Through the random mumblings of the other scenes, he could hear a small, high-pitched voice as the scene was swallowed by darkness; this time, he could hear the words clearly.

"_Are you sure this is okay?"_

:::

"Had enough, Father?"

Anti-Cosmo lay on the ground beside his fallen wife, crumpled and bleeding. Emeriei, violet as Juandissimo's eyes, pooled around him in a sticky lake of what seemed to be certain death. He slowly rose his head and looked at his son, his once-icy eyes now more soft and glinting with pain. "You know that you can not kill me," he managed through gritted teeth. "I am too strong."

"Si," Juandissimo replied, twirling his wand in his fingers, "but I can incapacitate you for uno momento."

"What did I say?" Anti-Cosmo hissed. "Stop. It. With. The. Spanish!"

"Hush," Juandissimo snarled. "You must rest, Father, if you want to get better."

Anti-Cosmo said nothing; he only glared at Juandissimo as the half-fairy flew off.

:::

"Wanda!"

"Is she okay? Is she hurt?"

"It'll be fine, she just passed out."

"Will she die?"

"Don't be silly, Cosmo!"

"I wouldn't mind if she did."

"Mama, don't be so mean!"

Wanda lay in the room adjacent to her husband's in a cot similar to his. "She just passed out," Studwell repeated calmly. "She will be fine. She's just resting and she'll be able to see you in a bit."

Cosmo looked a little skeptical, then calmed down. "Okay," he sighed. "I trust you."

:::

"Mr. McBadbat ?" Truden knocked on the door of the trailer with the smaller half of the clipboard. "Mr. McBadbat? We need to..." she trailed as the door opened and Chester's father opened the door. "...talk to Chester? What is with that bag on your head?" She turned to Kane. "This town is way too weird for my tastes."

"Agreed." Kane sighed. "Is your son at home?"

"Yeah." Chester's father nodded. "Chester! Come here!"

"Paper plates are washed, Dad!" Chester chirped, racing over from the other side of the trailer. "Hey, I recognize you!" he stated. "You were at Remy's house when he died!"

Truden nodded. "Right. Listen, we need to ask your son a few questions for a homicide investigation. Is that okay?"

Chester's dad shrugged. "I don't see why not, as long as you get him home soon. Off you go, son!"

"Step in the car," Kane instructed the child. Chester looked hesitant for a moment, then obeyed and stepped inside the squad car.

"Kane?"

"Yeah?"

Truden sighed. "I don't know about you, Kane, but this whole thing is really starting to scare me."

:::

The interrogation room was dark and small, with nothing in it but a table, two chairs and a large sheet of one-way glass almost completely covering the wall opposite Chester. He glanced around uneasily, not knowing what he was supposed to do as he was alone. He shifted in the plastic chair and it creaked.

After what seemed an eternity, the door opened and a rather chubby officer stepped (or rather, squeezed) through, carrying a box of assorted doughnuts.

_Huh, _Chester thought. _So the cable TV shows are right. Funny, the two officers who talked to my dad weren't fat slobs..._

"Hurro," the officer greeted him through a mouth full of strawberry jelly and powdered sugar. He swallowed heavily, and started speaking again. "I'm officer Hilts, and I'll be interrogating you today!_"_

_"..._Okay," Chester blinked. _"_Is this about Remy Buxaplenty?"

"You're right!" Hilts beamed, stuffing another doughnut in his flubbery face. "Are you psychic?" he asked after taking another hefty gulp. "Can you tell me what happened to him?"

"No," Chester laughed. "Are you outta your mind? I can't do that!" He paused, then added, "That would be pretty sweet though."

"Mmm-hm." The officer sat down. "How would you describe your relationship with Remy?"

"What can I say?" Chester shrugged. "The guy was a jerk! He would always pick on Timmy for some reason. I don't know why. And he carried this ferret around with him everywhere, too. It had the stupidest name. Juandissimo! What kind of a name is that? Sheesh!"

As Chester ranted on about how dumb a name Juandissimo was, Truden, Kane and their boss, Captain Harrow, stood in the opposite room on the other side of the one-way glass. "There we go, we're back to that Timmy kid again," Kane stated. "Funny how everything keeps reverting back to him."

Truden nodded. "So, what do you think? Kid kills kid, runs off to cover up?"

"Whoa!" the Captian hissed. "You really think that someone so young is capable of such a thing?"

"Yeah, Cassie," Kane said, crossing his arms. "The kid's ten, according to his parents. Would a ten year old even think of such a thing?"

Truden snorted. "How many times have you heard your kid say 'I'm gonna kill them' when they're angry?"

"Well, a lot of times, but they're never serious about it!" her partner argued. "How would a child make such a clean crime scene?"

"He's right," the Captain nodded. "Truden, I would expect more thought on your part."

"I'm sorry, Captain," Truden mumbled, hanging her head, "it's just that... that..." she lifted her gaze to glare at Chester, who was now talking about how much he hated that new kid at his school, Mark. "That kid had so much ahead of him. Rich, and full of promise. And he has his life taken away from him!" She snapped her fingers. "Just like that! What kind of monster..."

"And you think that a ten year old boy could be that monster?"

Truden didn't respond until she recalled what Stirr had said. "But she said it was a little kid's hand!"

"That doesn't mean anything," the Captain growled. Pressing an intercom button, he said, "That's enough, officer. Take Chester to the waiting room to his father."

:::

Three things I want to point out:

1. Sorry if the resolution to last chapter's cliffie seemed really lame. Heh heh, *sweatdrop* it sort of was but hey... I liked it.

2. I'm thinking Jorgen was a little OOC. That guy's harder to write for than Timmy!

3. Next chapter will be, more or less, lots and lots of flashbacks, for those who have been messaging me saying "FLASHBACKS FLASHBACKS PLZ MOAR FLASHBACKS KPLZTHX." There, _HAPPY? _

~Mikichu


	11. Those Were The Days

Flashbacks galore! YAY! I hope all of you flashback-hungry fans (if I do indeed have any fans, T.T) are satisfied with this chapter. If not, then... you're out of luck until the next few chapters are posted. Okay? Good.

On with the backs of the flashes...

:::

_"Cosmo!" Mama Cosma chirped, carrying a platter of cookies. "The cookies are done, honey! Thanks for helping me bake them!"_

_"Mmm," Cosmo replied, not appearing to pay any attention. "Yeah. Cookies. Right." He was sitting on his bed, staring into space dreamily.  
_

_Mama Cosma cocked her head to one side. "Something wrong, son?"_

_"Mmm... what?" Cosmo looked at his mother. "Oh. Sorry. I was daydreaming about something."_

_"Do tell!" Mama Cosma requested, setting the cookies down on the desk in Cosmo's room. "I do love it when you tell me your dreams."_

_"I dunno, Mama..." Cosmo mumbled, looking down._

_"Oh, go ahead," she urged him, handing him a cookie filled with chocolate. "Tell away."_

_"...Okay." Cosmo nibbled on the end of his cookie and sighed happily, looking up at where he had been staring before. "See, Mama, there's this girl... a- at school. She's really pretty and nice and smart!" He grinned, but it didn't last. "But she already has a boyfriend, Mama. He's this really big strong guy who treats her like a queen." His gaze shifted to his parent. "Do you think I have a chance, Mama?"_

_Mama Cosma smiled. "Why, sure you do! What's her name?"_

_"Wanda."_

_Mama Cosma looked up at the ceiling. Cosmo and Wanda? It did have a bit of a ring to it. Bah! What did it matter? Cosmo was hers, and no one else's, and that was that. "You might be able to win her over," she said after a while._

_"You really think so?" Cosmo sounded as if someone had said he had just won the fairy lottery or something._

_"Why not?"_

_"Because I'm stupid and kind of a wimp and I don't even really look that good."_

_Mama Cosma glared at her son. "Don't **ever **say that! You know how much I hate it when you put yourself down."_

_"Sorry."_

_"That's okay," Mama Cosma assured Cosmo. "Now come in the kitchen and we can bake some more. How does that sound?"_

_"That sounds good, Mama! I'm right behind you!"_

_**Ah, young love, **Mama Cosma thought. **It'll never last.**_

"Treats her like a queen"! What a laugh! Cosmo still didn't know how he missed something that was right in front of him, but then again he had the attention span of a bagel.

He also still didn't know exactly why Wanda had fallen in love with him. He wouldn't dare question the love itself; he knew for a fact that she loved him deeply_**. **_He did, however, question the reason why. He was an idiot, she was really smart. Cosmo was a wimp, and Wanda was a real whiz with a wand. Hell, Cosmo wasn't even that good-looking, and Wanda's beauty surpassed even that of an angel's (as far as Cosmo was concerned, anyway. Much to her spouse's frustration, Wanda regarded herself as plain-looking at best).

And another thing: Why did Mama Cosma make such a huge deal out of it? Cosmo still loved her, and he always would, no matter what she said or did. She was his mother! She should have been happy that Cosmo had found someone to share his life with.

Wait!

Maybe, just maybe, she was like Juandissimo in a way. Maybe she refused to believe the fact that Cosmo now shared his love with someone else, and wanted it all to herself? Or maybe Cosmo was just over-analyzing things again.

Well, it didn't really matter either way. All that was left to do now was to go to sleep. He needed his rest.

:::

_"Ooh, look at that new kid!" Anti-Ivy squealed, pointing a few lockers away from Anti-Wanda. "Talk about cute! He, like, ignores almost everyone who talks to him!" She hugged herself and blushed. "That makes him cooool."_

_Anti-Wanda glanced at who her friend was pointing to. He had green eyes, black dress pants (**Fancy, **Anti-Wanda thought,) and a sky-blue tee-shirt. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his head down. "Yeah, I guess. What's with that glass thingie over his eye? What if it broke or sumthin'? Talk about ouchies." She looked at the boy again, more intently this time. "He **is **really cute though..."  
_

_"I think that's a monocle," Anti-Ivy replied. "It helps him see, or something. Why don't you go over and ask him?"_

_"WHA?" Anti-Wanda shrieked. "No way! Besides, you said that he ignores-"_

_"Almost, Anti-Wanda, I said almost." Anti-Ivy pushed her towards their target. "C'mon!"_

_"Ugh..." Anti-Wanda sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll go and talk to him." She quietly walked over to him and hesitated for a moment before quietly greeting him, "H- hi."_

_He looked up, looking almost bored, and then his expression changed to a more welcoming one. "Greetings." _

_Well, so far so good, he didn't completely ignore her. Something about the way he looked at her made Anti-Wanda's heart flutter a bit, but she ignored it. "You're new here, right?"_

_"Indeed I am," he replied._

_"How're ya likin' it so far?"_

_He shrugged. "It's rather boring, if I do say so myself," he stated. "And some of the teachers here are rather... oh, how should I put it? Unappealing, if you know what I mean."_

_"I don't likes 'em either," Anti-Wanda giggled. "Got any friends?"_

_The boy shook his head. "No, people around here seem to regard me as strange. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. I cherish alone time."_

_"Oh." Anti-Wanda looked away. "Should I be leavin' ya alone?"_

_"Not at all!" he grinned. "I do enjoy some company from time to time. So what's your name?"_

_"Anti-Wanda."_

_"Sounds pretty," he murmured. "Suits you."_

_"Aw!" Anti-Wanda looked down, feeling her face heat up a bit. "Thanks. I don't like my teeth though." She took a moment to resent them, then asked, "Wanna come and meet my friend?"_

_Another shrug. "I'd likely be too strange."_

_"That's okay!" Anti-Wanda assured him. "We're kinda weird ourselves!"_

_"Yeah!"_

_Anti-Wanda jumped and fell down, giving her friend a sharp magenta glare. "Anti-Ivy! Don't sneak up on me like that! You scared the bejeezus outta me!"_

_The boy took some time to chuckle, then offered Anti-Wanda his hand. "Need some help?"_

_"Sure, thanks." She took his hand and suddenly felt warm again. **Stop doin' that! **she scolded herself. **Like you'd have a flyin' chance anyways. Why, I'll bet he's off lookin' at some girl that's-**_

_"Ooh, Anti-Wanda, we were right!" Anti-Ivy chirped. "He **is **__really cute!"_

_"M- me?" he stammered. "You think I'm cute?"_

_"Ah!" Anti-Wanda looked down, certain that she was now blushing like mad. "Anti-Ivy!"_

_"Ooooh, you're blushing!" her friend squealed. "Whoever you are, new kid, I think she likes youuu!"_

_"Would y'all just shut up?" she cried, looking away. **Okay, this ain't goin' as well as I had hoped it would be. There's only one option: run. Run like hell!**_

_She began to quickly walk away but was abruptly stopped as someone grabbed her wrist. "Anti-Ivy, lemme..." she trailed as she looked back and saw that it was not Anti-Ivy holding her back, but the new boy. "...go..." She stopped and glanced at the wrist he was holding, then looked up at him._

_He was smiling. "Anti-Cosmo Julius Cosma," he whispered softly so only she could hear. Anti-Wanda could only manage a small "ooh" as he kissed her hand. "At your service, milady."_

Ah, that was a good day.

Anti-Cosmo would have asked what he had done to get himself beaten within an inch of his life and have his wife murdered and raped, but the question would have been pointless and rhetorical. Of course he knew what he had done! He had manipulated a fairy, impregnated her (usually male fairies gave birth, but the females were just as capable if impregnated by another species) and murdered and innocent woman. The first offense alone asked for severe punishment!

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, that was true. But, then again, who had ever done something, faced terrible consequences, and not said those words?

Why had it seemed so practical? Of course, because he had been so young. Young and stupid, just like he was when his childhood was robbed from him.

:::

Juandissimo sped to the hospital, rage boiling his lavender half-bred blood. The little bitch was going to disappear into thin air now because her counterpart died? Well, that made no sense at all! Had she already gone?

She better not have! Juandissimo gritted his teeth and started to grind them. The day she left him for that little green-haired freak, he vowed that he would not let even an untimely death (for fairies, however, that was just death in general) get in the way of his love for her.

_"Forget it! I'm so sick of your lies! You don't love me!"_

_"Mi amor, no! My longing for you will never cease!"_

_Wanda made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. "Don't call me that, you filthy murderer! I'm surprised I didn't see it before. Cosmo was right!"_

_"...Cosmo?" Juandissimo inquired, his eyebrows slanting together. "Who is this 'Cosmo' of which you speak?"_

_"Oh, you don't know him?" Wanda asked mockingly. "Good! Why should I tell you who the fuck he is? You'd kill him, no doubt, and I can't stand that thought. I love him!"_

_"You... love another-"_

_"There's no 'another' about it, you bastard!" Wanda growled. "I love only him."_

_"You... you do not love me," Juandissimo stated quietly, studying Wanda intently.  
_

_"Yes, that's right!" Wanda shrieked, picking up a lamp from a nearby table and throwing it at him only to miss completely. "I love him, I love him more than I ever loved you! He doesn't hurt me like you do, Juandissimo! He makes me feel needed, loved, safe and everything else possible... he loves me. He loves me, Juandissimo."_

_Juandissimo chuckled. "You sound rather... committed for someone who is still in Fairy High."_

_Wanda shrugged, grabbing the door and stepping out a bit to set herself up for a dramatic door-slam for the grand finale. "I don't care, Juandissimo. I know it, I know it. He's the one."_

_Juandissimo snapped to attention as if someone had dumped icy water on him. Those two words- "the one"- were, to him, worse than any insult he could have faced. Quickly, before Wanda could slam the door on him, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it painfully. She squealed in agony, and Juandissimo grabbed her collar with his free and hand savagely yanked his ex's face within inches of his. "Who is he? What does he look like?"_

_"I'm not tell- EEEEEEEE!" Wanda looked down, fighting tears, as her hand bent in an forced, unnatural manner. "I will never tell you," she finally managed._

_"Tell me now."_

_"No!"_

_Wanda winced as Juandissimo's sharp fingernails pierced her skin. She saw silver welling up around them and knew he had made her bleed. "Tell me who you have left me for, you little slut," he demanded again._

_"Fine, fine! Just... just let me go first."_

_Juandissimo obeyed, slowly releasing Wanda. She laughed, grabbed her wand, and poofed away before Juandissimo could do anything. He found himself staring at the space where Wanda used to be, and he muttered to himself, "You little bitch."_

_:::_

Mmm, that would be all for now. Hope you enjoyed it! More chapters soon to come!

~Mikichu


	12. Love is Dead

Also note, Cupid is not a fairy; he is a love god, and gods have blood like the humans do. Just to clarify. :)

:::

"What a day," Remy sighed, sitting down in midair and curling up into a fetal position. (It was, however, around two days, he realized as he recounted the events.) "I have witnessed an attempted rape, made a truce with my enemy, been murdered, _eaten_, and now I am stuck inside the head of an Anti-Fairy."

"You certainly would have a story to tell your friends if you were still alive," Clarice chuckled.

Remy managed a small smile, but it soon fell as he realized how tired he was. "Is there somewhere I can sleep?"

"Yes," Clarice nodded, forcing Remy to stand up by grabbing his hair.

"Ow!"

"Sorry." Clarice let go of his blond mop and pointed to his left. "Your room is the one with the large bit of cash under the mattress, correct?"

"...Yes!" exclaimed Remy, quite surprised. "How did you know?"

"When the Father consumed your soul," Clarice explained, "he also consumed your memories. The image of your room is in his mind, along with any other memory you have."

"So I have a duplicate room?"

"Right."

Clarice led him to the room. Remy was astounded at the detail his room was portrayed in. It was even complete with the view he had of Dimmsdale and Juandissimo's ferret form in the cage beside his bed. (He felt that detail could have been left out; he didn't much care for Juandissimo now.) "Wow," he murmured, crawling into his bed.

"Goodnight, Remy Buxaplenty," Clarice said, switching off the light.

The teen only nodded, pulling the covers up to his chin.

Ten at night.

Eleven at night.

Midnight.

Remy Buxaplenty could not sleep.

:::

The night came and went quickly, with Wanda having to stay overnight for her little fainting spell. Studwell checked her and she appeared to be fine, so he "released" her, but she didn't really go anywhere seeing as she stayed with Cosmo most of the time now. Timmy was now also with Jorgen; she would have left him with Mama Cosma, but Timmy, like Poof, had fiercely made it clear how little they cared for her.

Cupid was lingering in the doorway, told by Studwell to keep a close eye on Cosmo so he wouldn't do anything stupid. He sighed happily. Cosmo and Wanda weren't saying a word to each other; they didn't need to. They were looking in each others eyes, totally lost, and Cupid loved it. He himself could feel the love!

Now if only he could do that with Juandissimo...

He frowned and leaned against the wall, twirling his swirly hair absentmindedly. Where was Juandissimo, anyway? He hadn't been to the hospital in days! Maybe something happened to him...

"Hola."

Wanda turned around, holding in a scream, while Cupid emitted a high, fangirlish squee. "Juandissimo! Juandissimo! Come here!" Before the Hispanic fairy could protest, Cupid dragged him into an unoccupied room and poofed up an arrow. "I've been watching youuu!" he giggled, putting his hands on Juandissimo's chest. It felt so toned, and Cupid wanted to just melt.

Juandissimo, however, was a bit disturbed by the love god's affection. "...Watching me?"

"You know, from a distance!" Cupid batted his eyelashes (which seemed too long; maybe he was wearing mascara?) flirtatiously. "Not like a stalker way, though. Who would do that? Pleaaase!" He crossed his arms. "Stalkers are such losers! Good thing Wanda's a little liar!"

Juandissimo narrowed his eyes until they were gleaming violet slits. "Ah, but Wanda was not lying."

Cupid backed away, looking confused and even a little hurt. "Wh- what?"

"Wanda was not lying about my stalking her," Juandissimo stated darkly. "Nor about anything else."

Cupid opened his mouth to say something, but the words died in his throat. He slowly turned away and he whispered in a dark, broken voice, "It's true. What they were saying all along. It's true. You..." he looked away and his breathing increased as he fought back waves of tears. "You're a murderer."

"Si." Juandissimo did nothing except stare at Cupid, Another admirer? He did not doubt it.

"B- but you're so perfect..." Cupid sobbed. "So kind. So helpful. So sexy." He turned and faced Juandissimo again. "No wonder you were so good with death..." Cupid took out an arrow. "B- but if I st- stab you with th- this arrow, y- you'll l- love me and st- stop hurting Wanda. A- and we c- can be t- together." He gulped. "R- right?"

"_Wrong_." Juandissimo grabbed the arrow and wrenched it from the love god's grip. "You fairies are so weak-willed and simple-minded. You think that all of your problems can be solved with a little arrow with a heart on the end of it. Well, you are all completely _wrong_! No problem can be solved simply by loving someone. You must take action for the things you want!"

Cupid was shaking now, not bothering to hold back his tears any longer. His most cherished beliefs were being crushed by the man that he, as much as he now hated to admit it, still loved. "But lo-"

"Do not say a word!" Juandissimo ordered, snapping the arrow in his hand. He took the sharp end and held it like a knife to Cupid's neck. "I know all too well that love is nothing but a lie. All of it! Maternal love, romantic love, brotherly love. Everything I ever loved either never loved me, or loved me and left me. And they are going to pay!"

"I would never leave you," Cupid promised.

"Silence!"

Cupid shrunk back and made a little mewling sound in response.

"You do not fix the world's problems," Juandissimo continued, grabbing on to one of Cupid's feathered wings. They were soft, like a cloud. "You only cause more of them. Love is not our savior. Love is our enemy."

"But you love Wanda..." Cupid squeaked, not daring to move.

"Si, I love Wanda, and it has caused me nothing but pain!" On "pain", he withdrew Cupid's broken arrow from the Valentine General's neck. "And now... I will have my revenge. He stabbed Cupid deeply in the chest and threw his victim to the ground.

Cupid did not feel a thing. The shock of having someone he had respected, loved and admired had frozen him with a numbness that buried the pain in ice. Juandissimo dug the arrow deeper, twisting it, until Cupid whimpered and gave Juandissimo a pleading look. He felt a tear roll down his cheek.

"Your tears do not soften me!" Juandissimo spat, twisting the arrow even more. "Nor does your pathetic attempt at looking adorable!" He leaned in close, using the arrow for support, and whispered, "Cupid Amoros, you die tonight."

A few seconds of silent pain passed before Cupid grabbed on to Juandissimo's weapon, trying to pull it out. He opened his mouth once again to cry out, but he made no such sound; he emitted a sound somewhere between a gurgle and a choke as blood spewed from his paled lips. His bright pink hair was stained now, looking almost like he were a hate god rather than one of love.

Cupid poofed up another arrow, trying to stab Juandissimo with it, but his assaulter was too quick. He writhed a little more, then was still.

Juandissimo stood up, admiring his handiwork. _Another job done, muy bueno._

The door burst open just as Juandissimo took the other arrow from Cupid's cold hand. It was the receptionist that had brought Wanda in. "My goodness! C- Cupid!"

"He loved me," Juandissimo told her. "But I did not return, so he tried to stab me with an arrow. But you see, I was not willing and he..." he looked down, as if sad, "...he stabbed himself with it. I tried to stop him, Karranda. I tried..."

Karranda bit her lip. "I'll call Studwell."

Juandissimo nodded. "You do that." When she flew off, he took his wand and wrote upon the wall: "_Love is a feeling of light; hate, a feeling of darkness. Darkness and light travel at the same speed. Darkness has overcome its counterpart with not speed, but ability._

Finished, he walked out with Cupid's arrow in his hand and advanced to Cosmo's room, knowing that he could still find Wanda there.

:::

"Are you _serious_?"

AJ nodded. "His parents were totally wrong. Timmy is thirteen, not ten. I don't get how is parents could be so wrong." He laughed and shrugged. "Then again, they are idiots."

Truden whacked her head on the table and let out a long sigh of frustration. "This is getting so... so..." She couldn't find a word for it.

"Aggravating?" AJ offered.

"More than that!" Truden growled. "Listen, you're a smart kid. Do you know who might have done this?"

"Scorch marks?" AJ exclaimed, studying the picture intently. "_'Honesty is swallowed by the shadows. Darkness reigns.'_ Ominous."

"No shit." Truden covered her mouth after realizing what she said. "Sorry, kid. I'm just shaken about this whole thing."

"I am too," AJ admitted. "I'm worried something happened to Timmy now. Maybe he didn't kill Remy after all." Glancing at the pictures again, he stated, "Well, whoever did this took their sweet time. It's really tidy. Were there any matches left behind?"

"Nope, no match traces and there was no trace of gasoline or excess carbon dioxide in the room. You know that gas turns into carbon dioxide when it burns right?" When AJ nodded, she continued, "So that rules out both lighters and matches! All the forensics are stumped. They have no idea what happened."

"Sooo... why did you ask me?"

"Well," Truden explained, "You are, according to your father and around five other fathers around here, a prodigy. And as a police officer, I have to find things out any way I can."

"So you asked me."

"Yeah. You did a good job, too," Truden praised him. "You might just have a future in crime investigation."

:::

He was right; Wanda was still there beside Cosmo like she had been when he first arrived. Cosmo was sleeping soundly while Wanda was kneeling beside him (the stools had been removed from the room), holding his hand. The sight of Wanda in love with another man still sickened Juandissimo after all these years. If that wasn't love, than what was it that Juandissimo was feeling?

Wanda called it obsession. Obsession? Obsession and love shared the same boat. How many times had someone confessed their love for someone without saying "I can't stop thinking about you" or "I want to be beside you always"? That's how he felt about Wanda.

And that, Juandissimo concluded, was love.

Wanda was not aware he was there until he spoke. "Hola," he greeted her quietly after creeping up only a few inches behind her.

Wanda let go of Cosmo's hand and jumped up, her breath catching in her throat. "Jua- Juandissimo!" she hissed, trying to suppress her fear.

"Do not try to act like you are not afraid," Juandissimo ordered. "You know that I can smell your fear."


	13. Plot

Wanda gulped, her wide, frightened eyes darting away from Juandissimo's deadly gaze. "I'm not afraid of you," she lied, knowing that it wasn't going to do her any good. Juandissimo knew her better than she herself did; he had no reason not to. After all, he had followed her, closely scrutinizing every move she made, every step she took and word she said for over ten thousand years. Wanda hardly paid attention to the things she did. She was often lost in the moment and not really noticing her reactions.

It really was no wonder how Juandissimo knew just how to render her helpless.

"I'm not afraid of you," she repeated, her voice cracking in mid-sentence.

"You are so stubborn, Wanda," Juandissimo cooed.

"You can't scare me..." Wanda whispered, feeling either a tear or a drop of sweat roll down her cheek.

Juandissimo raised his eyebrows and leaned in close, putting one hand on her waist while holding the arrow in the other. "...Boo."

Wanda whimpered and looked at him again. "You don't love me," she stated quietly, not wanting to wake Cosmo from his deep sleep. "You're obsessed. I've told you before, I'll tell you again, Juandissimo. You don't love me."

"Obsession is the deepest, purest form of love!" Juandissimo argued, raising Cupid's arrow like a knife over Wanda. "And if you will not love me on your own..." he paused to admire himself in a nearby mirror, then continued, "...I will make you love me."

"Juandissimo, quit it." Wanda was clenching one fist now.

"I will not."

"Give it up."

"I will not."

"_Stop this shit!" _In a blind flash of fury, Wanda raised her unclenched hand and knocked the arrow from Juandissimo's grasp. It clattered on the floor and broke in two.

They stared at the broken arrow for a moment; neither of them could believe what had just happened. Simultaneously, their gazes connected and Wanda suddenly felt a fire spread through her veins. Was it rage? She wasn't quite sure; she knew it should have been, but somehow it didn't feel quite... right. "Stop it. Move on, Juandissimo." Both fists.

There was a dark hurt in his eyes that tugged at something in Wanda. How had she not seen how hurt he was before? "Move on, Juandissimo. I love Cosmo now..." _I don't love you anymore._

Why hadn't the words out loud? They caught in her throat when she tried to say them. Juandissimo must have known what she was about so say, because he merely nodded, smiling wickedly, and left the room.

She released her fists and started to notice a searing pain in her palm. Turning it over, her stomach flipped and twisted as she realized what had just happened.

There, running across her hand in a sharp, scarlet line, was the mark where Cupid's arrow had scratched her.

:::

After four fitful hours of tossing and turning, he finally felt sleep claim his mind.

_Fairy World._

_He looked around for some sign of the man he was meeting. After a while, he spotted him. Standing there, against the moon was the silhouette of Juandissimo, still and quiet._

_Too quiet._

_"Why did you do it?" he asked Juandissimo. "You could have any girl you want."_

_"But I want Wanda," came the low response._

_"What are you plotting?"_

_In return for his question, he got an evil laugh and nothing more._

_"What are you going to do?" he repeated, taking a step closer. "I respected you, and trusted you. Everything you told me was a lie, and I have no intention of letting that trend continue. So tell me now!"_

_"Do you know who the Father is?"_

_"Yes," he growled. "Don't answer my questions with questions, Juandissimo!"_

_"He will soon be nothing."_

_He narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about? He's so powerful."_

_Juandissimo laughed again; it was shorter this time. "Not for long. You see, I have already weakened him. He will soon be dead."_

_"Dead?"_

"Remy Buxaplenty!"

_"You are a slow child."_

"Remy, get up!"

_"You will see what I speak of, Remy Buxaplenty."_

"The Father is weak!"

Remy's eyes snapped open. The first thing he saw was Clarice, standing over him and shaking him. "Wake up! We need to give him strength!"

He opened his mouth to speak, but he got no chance. Raising her magic wand, Clarice transported to where he had been before (he still had his clothes on from yesterday). Everyone was standing in a circle, holding hands, and a strange blue light was shooting up from the middle.

Clarice rushed him over and forced him to join hands with herself and Vicky. Remy repressed a shudder; Vicky's hand was dry and cracked, contrasting sharply with Clarice's almost perfect skin. "What's going on?"

"We must give the Father power. If he dies, we die with him."

"It's Juandissimo," Remy whispered. "Juandissimo is trying to kill him."

"What?" Clarice hissed. "Never. Juandissimo loves the Father."

"Not anymore," Remy muttered ominously to no one in particular.

"Shut up, rich twerp!" Vicky growled.

Remy, deciding he valued his well-being, did so.

Clarice started to chant, "_You have consumed us, given us a place to reside."_

Everyone else started. Remy somehow knew what to say; instinct, perhaps? "_A home in your mind, safe from harm."_

"_Without you, we would be lonely souls wandering hopelessly in the worlds our bodies resided."_

_"Ghosts without purpose."_

_"We give you our thanks, our care, our power."_

_"You shall live."_

Lights, all different colours, shot up from from the spirits and combined with the jet of blue rising from the middle of the circle. Remy watched in awe as it grew, exploded into a ball of white light, and was gone.

:::

_They are coming together._

_They are making me stronger._

Anti-Cosmo stirred on the floor, getting on his hands and knees. Glancing at his wife one last time, he felt a tear roll down his cheek, but he soon shook it off. He had no time for grieving, no matter how much he had loved- still loved- her. The only thing he had time for now was revenge._  
_

:::

"I wanna go home!"

Jorgen sighed, rubbing his temples. "Turner, you cannot go home right now. It is not safe."

"Why not?"

"Because Juandissimo is after you!" he barked, slamming the end of his enormous wand on the floor of his living room. "He killed his own godchild, Turner, and fed him to an Anti-Fairy! Heaven knows what he'll do to you. He got you once, Turner, and we can never let him get that close again."

Timmy merely nodded in resigned agreement; Jorgen was right. "What about my parents?" he asked after a while.

"They will be fine," Jorgen assured him. "They know nothing of Juandissimo's tyranny, and if they did, they would be too stupid to do anything with the knowledge. Juandissimo wouldn't hurt them." He paused. "Then again... he _did _kill Anti-Wanda..."

"W- what?" Timmy exclaimed. "When did that happen?"

"Last night, according to Anti-Cosmo."

"You were talking to him?"

"I had to."

Timmy sighed and sat down on the couch. "This is getting so bad... why is he doing this?"

Jorgen sighed again. "Puny human, if I knew that, we wouldn't be having this discussion." He looked around. "Is Poof still sleeping?"

"Dunno. I'll go check."

Timmy wandered off to the guest room he and Poof shared as Jorgen put his head in his hands. Timmy was right; this _was _going too far. Damn that half-breed for being so clean and thorough! There was no way anyone could prove that he was behind all of this- now or when he first began his rampage over ten millenniums ago- except that pathetic Cosmo, and Wanda would rather die than let him go up and tell Fairy World of Juandissimo's terror. Why? Juandissimo would gut him like a fish, simple as that.

He growled and cursed under his breath. Being the leader and guardian of Fairy World was certainly a strenuous job, especially now that Juandissimo was acting up again. Jorgen had given him a godchild many years ago to distract him from his violent ways, but did that work? For a bit, yes, but it was only temporary. After all, godchildren did not last forever. So he had to continually occupy Juandissimo, and when he gave Juandissimo to Remy he had no idea that Timmy and Remy would ever meet. And when they did, Juandissimo was reminded of his love for Wanda, and thus reminded of the rage that welled deep inside him.

Quite frankly, Jorgen was surprised he didn't assault her right off the bat and kill everyone in the room.

Then again, he reconsidered, Juandissimo was not the muscle-headed sort. He was also sharp, suave and sexy; after all, Anti-Cosmo was his father. He could gain the trust of anyone he wanted, and he always knew when the right moment was to swoop in and make the kill. But there was something he saw in Wanda that made him spare her life.

She often said she wished he had killed her.

"Jorgen?"

"Hm?" Jorgen looked up and removed himself from his thoughts.

"He's still asleep."

"Good."

There was an awkward silence before Timmy spoke up again. "Do Cosmo and Wanda have a home here in Fairy World?"

Jorgen nodded. "It's being looked after while they take care of you." He looked up at the ceiling. "I hope Juandissimo hasn't done anything else."

As if on cue, the phone beside him rang and he picked it up. "Hello? Doctor Rip Studwell." He listened for a while, then stood up, a look of shock on his face. Slamming the phone down, he faced Timmy. "Timmy Turner, Cupid has been murdered."

:::

Holy COW. That last scene was the hardest ever. Stupid Jorgen and Timmy!

Another chapter won't come for a while; I will be away for the long weekend and I will also be fixing the various typos in this story. Ah well, that won't take long... I hope... e.e

~Mikichu


	14. Misery

This chapter is written from the POVs of various characters.

:::

Do not look upon me as if I am a monster. I have reasons for what I do, and all of them, might I add, are completely justified in a muy bueno manner.

Yes, I know I am a killer, and I know that the few who believe Wanda in her claims think that what I did to her was wrong. But merely thinking something does not make it truth. I know that I am treating my thoughts as truth, but that is because my mind, being half-bred between two species constantly at war with one another, can not be told to hate a certain thing because it is wrong. My mind is in between evil and good; I am neutral. I see things as they really are. I am not afraid to face the truth. And what is the truth, you may ask?

The truth is, the world, unlike me, is an ugly thing.

Had Wanda not captivated me like she did, I would have wasted no time in letting her live. But something was... special about her. To this day I can not put my handsome finger on what set her apart from the rest. If I had been able to do that, I would have been able to stop this unbearable longing. My heart cries for her, and I do not know why! Sometimes I think I am going loco!

Ah, Wanda. So beautiful, but so unattainable! It is silly to think that just because someone told you to hate something you should. My father keeps a journal every day, and I take the time to read it (even though I know he would not like it if he found out). I magically copied a passage that I read the other day. I shall read it to you.

Commence entry!

_Hate is not something that comes naturally; it is implanted in our minds by the forces we, at the time of the implantation, considered superior to us. From the earliest age, our brains are programmed; we do not think, we learn. Our parents take advantage of this programming and decide to teach us. First, they teach us the basic things: the emotions that do come naturally, like joy and sorrow. We learn what is happy, we learn what is sad. We learn what is commonplace, and we stop thinking about it anymore. Our personalities are based solely on how we perceive these things._

_ When we have mastered the simple emotions, that is when they start filling us with lies. We then learn what our parents believe about politics, food, music, and the like. This takes many, many years, but they work hard at it and before you know it they have, more or less, molded their own personal minion to do their dirty work. And when we rebel and do not do the deeds asked of us, we get sent to "academies", the likes of which try to continually re-program us._

_Many believe humans are guilty of doing this in the worst manner. I beg to differ; my species, Anti-Fairies, are far worse than humans when it comes to this. Humans learn from their experiences (most of which, anyway) and eventually develop themselves in a manner that is unique and, for the most part, good and logical. Anti-Fairies, however, have a mindset that they stick upon their entire lives because it was enforced upon us by our parents: no matter how ridiculous or asinine our claims are, we are always right._

_But I, having my mind so accursedly gifted, knew all along what was going on. I could speak full sentences at the age of five months. It was long before this I started regarding the world around me. I had my own thoughts on these things. I had my own tastes. Everything my parents tried to set into my brain disagreed with the truth of it all. When I refused to do their bidding, what did they call me? Slow. Retarded. Unable to learn._

_It's quite funny how they would call me that when, in reality, I was the complete opposite._

_If you are reading this (which you shouldn't be, Juandissimo, but you always took such delight in disobeying me; I would hate to spoil your fun. In fact, I congratulate you in being so opposing- you remind me of myself when I was a boy, you know), you may have already said that someone you know does things that you do not like: humming under their breath, talking to themselves, whatever. And you hate them for it.  
_

_You, my dear, unruly son, have hate confused with your feelings of annoyance. Annoyance comes naturally as pain or relief._

_I, on the other wing, do not have this confusion. I hate no one, for I never had hate implanted in my brain by my parents. Am I annoyed by certain individuals? Yes, of course!__ Can you not read? __(No son of mine shall be illiterate!) That is not the same thing!_

_As I was saying, I do not hate anyone because, quite simply, hate is something that does not reside within me. It is not something that I am capable of. I am capable of deceit, anger, annoyance (whether the annoying or the annoyee), joy, love, pain, evil, mercy, pity, stubbornness, regret, innocence (not quite so much, I'm afraid), truth and sorrow, but not hate. I do not hate, never hated, nor ever will._

End entry.

You see? My father was right about everything said in his journal. ...Even the part about me reading it.

I am telling you, he is one smart fajita, no?

:::

Somehow, I can not help but think this is all my fault.

I was awake when Wanda and Juandissimo were fighting. I heard everything; even when Wanda knocked the arrow away from him. And guess what I noticed later that day? A scratch on her hand. And do you know what she said to explain it?

"I just cut myself while making dinner at home while you were sleeping, sweetheart." Wanda, I know I'm stupid, but please, please don't lie to me! You can't cook! You hate cooking and avoid it at all costs. Plus, I know how worried you get about me when I'm hurt, especially when Juandissimo's behind it.

Was she just... I don't know. Just... scared that I might leave her if she loved Juandissimo? She shouldn't be. I don't think it's her fault. Is it? He got her with an arrow and she saw him first. She still loves me! I know she does!

But... what if the arrow cancelled out the other arrow Cupid shot over ten thousand years ago?

_**NO!**_

My life is ruined! I can't live without Wanda!

:::

I should have seen what Clarice had been doing all along. After all, she and I were very close, given our situation. I haven't told anyone about it, of course. People wondered why she got such special treatment from me, but I never elaborated. The longer our secret connection stayed silent, the better.

I did not forbid the birth of fairy babies because of Cosmo's idiocy as I told everyone. (Okay, that was part of the reason, but not all of it.) It was because of Anti-Cosmo. You see, some of the fairy women... don't have good self-control. I know that Cosmo could be used by some of them (had he not fallen in love with Wanda. When he did that, it was obvious he would rather die than be with some other woman.) and if he bore a child, Anti-Cosmo would also be a father. The last thing Fairy World needed was a miniature Anti-Cosmo!

And what happened when Poof was born? _Foop happened!_

Stupid puny Timmy Turner.

Oh, why am I blaming it on Turner? I've had enough of denying everything and blaming it on them! It is my fault; I didn't do my best to protect her, and who doesn't do anything to protect their own daughter?

:::

Finally, an update! Sorry for the wait.

~Mikichu


	15. Confusion

Anti-Wanda woke up in a daze of confusion.

_This ain't the castle. _She sat up and looked around. Nothing was familiar to her; the clouds below her were a stormy gray colour, and the sky above was dark blue and not the blood-red expanse she had come to love. Where was Anti-Cosmo? Where was his piano and the his big collection of the music he played to help put her to sleep after she had nightmares? Where was the palace they resided in?

More importantly, where was _she? _Was someone else here? Or was she alone?

Alone. No, she couldn't be alone, she just couldn't! Alone meant no Anti-Cosmo there to comfort her when she was frightened, or save her from the terrors of the world with his brilliant mind. Alone meant no love, friends to talk to, kisses, cuddles or laughs.

If only she had known she was going to suddenly wake up in the middle of nowhere! She would have made the most of the date she and Anti-Cosmo had gone on. Strange, she couldn't remember anything about the date, except she had told Juandissimo about it...

Her pink eyes widened and she shuddered as the memories came flooding back to her. The darkness of the cell, the roughness of the stone floor beneath her, the coldness of Juandissimo's hands and the pain of his wand, sharp against her throat...

As the realization dawned on her, she began to cry. She was dead. Dead, gone, deceased. Anti-Wanda Venus Cosma was no more.

Was Anti-Cosmo okay, or had Juandissimo gotten to him too? That was the thing that was troubling her. She must be a ghost by now. If she was lucky, she would find her way out of her afterlife-like world and fly to Anti-Fairy World or it's other, more glittery counterpart and see if he was still alive. (If he were dead, she figured, he'd be somewhere else; no one was there with her, so she must be in her own place.)

_One time, _she thought. _I just need to see my Anti-Cozzie one more time._

:::

It was late by the time Jorgen and Timmy got everything together and poofed to the hospital. Timmy had been ordered to stay away from Cupid's "suicide scene" as it was very, very gory, even for the violence-hungry eyes of a thirteen-year-old-boy.

_And they had been right_, Jorgen thought as he entered the scene. There was red everywhere; it was staining Cupid's hair and his clothes, and the odd mark of dry blood on the walls. As his eyes wandered from bloodspot to bloodspot, he noticed the scorch marks that Juandissimo had undoubtedly left. The message behind the words was clear: darkness had once again triumphed over the light, and Juandissimo, being the complete egoist he is, was bragging about it.

How he sickened Jorgen.

It was hard to believe that Juandissimo and Jorgen were related in the slightest. What would that make Jorgen and Anti-Cosmo? Would the Anti-Fairy World ruler be considered his son-in-law to some degree? He shuddered at the thought. He would rather be weak and puny like Cosmo was than be related in any way to that fiend! Jorgen felt no mercy towards him, even after he had discovered what had happened to him over ten thousand years ago. As far as Jorgen was concerned, the bastard deserved what he got!

"Jorgen?"

He turned to answer the hesitant voice and sighed. "Turner, did I not tell you to stay away from this?"

Timmy looked down, as if embarrassed. "Yeah, you did. I had to see this for myself." He shuddered at the carnage. "Why would Juandissimo do something like this? Cupid was totally innocent!"

Jorgen glanced at the corpse of the love god, then answered in a cold, gruff voice, "It is none of your concern."

"None of my concern?" Timmy exclaimed. "Look, Jorgen, this guy has killed Remy, Anti-Wanda, Cupid, and a bunch of other people. He's tried to kill Cosmo, and more importantly, he's tried killing me! I love my fairies more than anything else in the whole world, and he's abusing and raping one and trying to kill the other. And you tell me it's none of my concern?"

Jorgen stared at Timmy intently. "It is best if you do not get involved."

Timmy snorted. "Well... it's a little _late _for that, don't you think?"

"Why is everyone yelling?" Wanda's voice was quiet, quavering with unshed tears, as she hovered up behind Timmy from Cosmo's room across the hall. "Be quiet. Cosmo's sleeping."

_No I'm not._

"Sorry," Timmy muttered, scuffing his feet on the floor. "How is he?"

_Shitty. Thanks for asking, Timmy._

"He's fine," Wanda replied.

_Fine? Ha! If only you knew that I knew you knew you loved Juandissimo and he knows that you know but he doesn't know that I know that you know that... wait, what? I'm confused!_

"That's good," Timmy breathed, relieved. "I hope Juandissimo doesn't do anything else to him."

_That's just what I was thinking! Are you a mind reader, Timmy?  
_

"I am just glad Studwell could do something for one of my closest friends,_" _Jorgen chipped in. "He was really hurt."

_...DUH!_

:::

Truden's head made a thumping sound as it collided with the coffee table. She did not lift it as she rubbed her temples, mulling over the Buxaplenty case.

She knew full well that her obsession with it was unhealthy, but she didn't care. Something about it just didn't fit. Truden hated when things didn't go her way, and everyone at the station knew it. They knew better than to say something to her about it because she would likely go all "Incredible She-Hulk" on them for questioning her actions.

_It wouldn't make any difference, _she thought bitterly, closing her eyes in frustration. _We all know they think I don't know what the hell I'm doing._

Did she even know what she was doing? Yes, she did: she was stressing herself out at three in the morning over a picture the forensics had given her of a freaky fingerprint. Yippee. Man, once she got her hands on whoever did this to that kid...

She opened her eyes and stood up, opening a cabinet across the room and pulling out a couple of pictures from the case she had a few weeks ago. She remembered they had decided to close it, but Truden kept the pictures of the evidence in case something like this ever happened again. If her hunch was correct...

_Oh, god! _It was! The fingerprint that had been on the redheaded teen's shirt had been the same one as they found on Buxaplenty's neck! She quickly snatched the phone and called the Captain. _Pick up the phone! Wake up and pick up the phone, goddammit, I just found something really important!_

:::

_Walking on a stage, holding a microphone. The room was deathly silent as they waited for him to sing, to serenade them with his amazing voice. He opened his mouth as the children's choir started chanting, "V! I! C K Y! The sound of her name makes the little kids cry!"_

_The blank faces of the fans exploded with passion and delight and started cheering... cheering..._

_Sing!_

_Sing!_

_Sing!_

_Srrrrrrr..._

_Rinnngggg..._

_Ringgg..._

_Ring, ring..._

_Ring, ring, ring..._

_**Ring ring...**_

_**RINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRING-**_

Captain Harrow sat up next to his wife, Amelia, in his large bed and rubbed his eyes. After doing so, he picked up the phone and answered in a groggy voice, "Darren Harrow speaking... who the hell just woke me up?"

"It's me, sir."

"Cassie?"

"Yes."

"I had a feeling it was you," he chuckled quietly. "Only you would have the balls to call me at three in the morning. Funny, too, you're a wom-"

"That's because I'm the only one who would be awake at such a ridiculous hour," Truden cut him off, a bit aggravated.

"True," Darren grinned, taking delight in teasing his mistress. "You woke me up in the middle of a fantastic dream, you know," he told her, taking the handset out of the room so he could talk without waking up his wife.

"Oh?"

"I was dreaming I was Chip Skylark."

"You listen to that freak?" came the somewhat disgusted reply. "I hope that's not his real name. Who the heck names their kid 'Chip'?"

"It reminds me of chocolate chips..." Harrow murmured. "Why not listen to him? Give him credit, he doesn't even have to edit his voice a lot! He can sing pretty well live."

"It's called lipsync, jackass."

"Who are you? Oscar LeRoy? At least my musical hero didn't pick a name that sounded like a shampoo."

_"'Evanescence' does not sound like a shampoo!" _Truden shouted.

"'Herbal Evanescences! Soft, silky hair and bleeding ears guaranteed, or your money back!'" Darren teased.

"You wouldn't know a decent voice if it smacked you in the face!"

"By the sound of _your _voice, I would guess you wouldn't mind doing so."

"No. I wouldn't."

Harrow laughed again, and then asked, "All right, enough arguing. What did you call me for?"

"It's about the case."

"Thought so. What about it?"

"Just a sec." He heard the phone drop, and some shuffling in the background. When he heard the phone being picked up again, he heard Truden say, "You know that case we had on the teenage who'd been killed with the star-shaped knife?"

"Victoria Vileness, or Vicky for short. Yeah. We never found that weapon." He paused. "I wonder if she was the subject of 'Icky Vicky'? Her parents said she was a jerk..."

"_ENOUGH ABOUT THE SHITTY TEEN SINGER! _Remember the freaky print on her shirt?"

"Mm-hm."

"Remy has the same one on his neck."

Darren stood there for a second (or maybe five) before he responded. "Scan the pictures and send copies the Erica. Get her to distribute them amongst the forensics. I'll take care of the rest." Without saying goodbye, he hung up and went to sleep again, dreaming about being teen singing sensation Chip Skylark once more.

:::

Muffins for anyone who got the Corner Gas reference.

~Mikichu


	16. Both Hoped It Wouldn't Come To This

Yippee! Some lovey AC/AW flashbacks!

:::

Anti-Cosmo scooped his wand off the floor, staring into the mirror with a dull, somewhat hateful look in his green eyes.

He never had liked his eyes. They were such a strange colour! He always wished he had the gleaming, deadly red of the rest of the Anti-Fairies (excluding Anti-Wanda and Foop, of course). He didn't like his monocle, either. It was quite pesky. Or how he was built! He was in shape (he had to be; the majority of Anti-Fairy women were fangirls, and he needed their vote) but he was still a scrawny little thing. The tea likely wasn't doing him much good, either, after drinking so much. He was practically addicted. And his fangs! They made biting his tongue very painful business.

His wife had been- still was- a different story. Anti-Wanda's eyes, he loved; they were an amazing shade of magenta, not quite red but not quite pink either. She often said she hated her teeth, but he thought they were absolutely adorable. She was also, as far as he was concerned, the most beautiful thing upon the face of any world ever to exist. Her hair was constantly tangled; somehow, though, it added to the appeal. Anti-Wanda usually complained about her body, though. He remembered almost every argument they had about it.

June fifth, 1250 A.D.

_Anti Wanda poked her stomach as she entered the room known as Anti-Cosmo's "study". "Did I gain weigh'?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"I think I gained weigh'."_

_Her husband rolled his eyes, getting out of his chair. "You look fine to me. Who cares if you gained a pound or two? You'll always look beautiful to me, beloved."_

_"Y'all are such a liar. Stop goin' and tellin' me I'm pretty, aite?" she demanded. "I don' even haves no makeup on."_

_"You look better without it."_

_Anti-Wanda responded with a skeptical snort. "Whassa matta wi'choo? Do y'all not have ya eyeglass-thingie on or sumthin'?"_

_"Anti-Wanda," he sighed, "you must think more of yourself. Why do you not believe me when I compliment you?"_

_"'Cuz it ain't true, duh."_

_Another sigh. "Yes, it is. You look ravishing, and you always have."_

_Anti-Wanda gave a bitter chuckle. "Whateva. Anyways, do I look... bigga?"_

_"No."_

_"You sure?"_

_"Positive."_

_"But-"_

_"Will you stop it?" Anti-Cosmo bellowed, grabbing her shoulders. "It makes me so irritated when you put yourself down like this! Have some self-esteem, woman!"_

_Anti-Wanda averted her gaze, deciding to glare hatefully at a nearby mirror, and said nothing._

_"Anti-Wanda?"_

_No response._

_"Look at me."_

_Silence._

_Anti-Cosmo grabbed her chin and gave her a long, passionate kiss. Anti-Wanda stood there, a bit surprised for a moment, then slipped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, unable to resist the magic in his love for her. When the kiss was over, they silently stared at one another for a while before Anti-Cosmo finally spoke, "Anti-Wanda, I love you dearly. I love you more than anyone or anything else I have ever encountered. Do you know how much it breaks my heart to see you treat yourself this way?"_

_Anti-Wanda, realizing she didn't have a clue, shook her head._

_"I thought so." He touched noses with his wife, closed his eyes, and whispered, "If only you could see what I see when I look at you, my love. Then... if you did... you wouldn't be able to look away."_

_Anti-Wanda blinked, pulling away. "What **do **ya see in me, anyways? I'm thinkin' y'all could do betta than me."_

_"I could," he agreed, "but you see, I do not want to have anyone else, regardless of which they are better than you or not."_

_"That don' ansa mah question, mista."_

_A third sigh came before he continued, "I see in you what I have not seen in anyone ever before. Anti-Wanda, you are so incredibly beautiful and enchanting I simply cannot stay away. I love your smile, I love your voice, I love your laugh-"_

_"Mah laugh is stupid!"_

_"It's sexy!"_

_"Stupid!"_

_"Sexy!"_

_"Stupid!"_

_"Sexy!"_

_"Stupi-"_

_Anti-Cosmo threw his hands up and Anti-Wanda cut herself off. "Why can you not take a simple compliment?" he asked, slightly aggravated.  
_

_"I dun like it when ya lie ta me," Anti-Wanda shrugged._

_"But I am not lying."_

_"Yes ya are!" Anti-Wanda cried. Anti-Cosmo was alarmed as he saw tears his lover's eyes. "I ain't pretty! I ain't cute! I don't got no sexy laugh or talent for nothin'! You shouldn' love me, you should be off lovin' someone who ain't so... so..."_

_"So what?" Anti-Cosmo asked, feeling his heart rip as the woman he loved wept in front of him._

_"So... I dunno a word for it. I always get in the way a ya plans an' stuff, an' say an' do things that hurt ya withou' thinkin', just cuz I'm so stupid. Y'all don't deserve that."_

_"I really don't care what I deserve, dear. No one ever gets what they deserve!" Anti-Cosmo exclaimed, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "We take what life gives us, and we make the most of it."_

_"So, what, y'all sayin' I'm the bes' of a bad situation?" Anti-Wanda sniffed, pushing her husband away again._

_"No! No, that's not what I'm saying at all!" he backtracked, trying desperately to find the right words. "I mean that... that... I don't care whether you think I deserve better than you or not. There is no 'deserving' something. It's what fate leads you to. And fate..." He went close to her again, embracing her in a tight hug, "...fate lead me to you, Anti-Wanda."_

The argument, Anti-Cosmo recalled, had stopped right there when Anti-Wanda became silent until she started madly kissing him between sobs. He thought that the problem had been resolved, but he had been so wrong...

July eighteenth, 1886 A.D.

_"What. The hell. Is this?"_

_Anti-Cosmo turned around and gulped. "Oh. You found that, did you?"_

_"Yeah!" She held up the emeriei-stained knife she had found in Anti-Cosmo's safe. "Why do y'all haves this in there, and why is our weddin' pictures up in it? And methinks I seen some old love notes from me when we's was in high school, too. Ya plannin' ta kill me or sumthin'?_

_"I'm not planning on killing you, dearest."_

_"Then whassa reason for the knife?"_

_Anti-Cosmo sighed. "I was hoping it would never come to me telling you what has been going on."_

_Anti-Wanda's eyes narrowed in concern. Her magenta eyes held a glimmer of hurt. "Why couldn' ya jus' tell what's goin' on wi'choo? Y'all don' trust me?"_

_Anti-Cosmo dropped his gaze. "It's... it's a very personal matter, love."_

_"But..." Anti-Wanda glanced at the knife, then got an idea bulb over her head (which she quickly grabbed with her feet and ate). After swallowing, she demanded, "Show me ya wrists."_

_Shrugging, Anti-Cosmo pulled up his sleeves until all of his wrist was visible. "See? No marks. Now, can we speak of something else? I do not wish to discuss this any further."_

_"Too bad! I do." Holding up the knife, she murmured, "Anti-Cozzie, y'all know ya can tell me anythin'. Ya ain't foolin' me; I knows yer hidin' sumthin', so ou' with it."_

_"Fine." He looked up and sighed. "They saw him again."_

_"Saw who?"_

_"Him."_

_Anti-Wanda thought for a moment, then her eyes widened in shock. "I though' he was dead!"_

_"So did I," Anti-Cosmo muttered grimly._

_"That don't explain this," his wife reminded him, holding up the blade._

_"Anti-Wanda... if he finds me..."_

_"He ain't gonna."_

_"You don't know that, dear."_

_"I'll protect ya."_

_"Don't!" he shouted, biting his lip so hard it bled. "Do not make any attempt to defy him! He will kill you."_

_Frightened by the thought, Anti-Wanda reverted back to the beginning topic. "The knife, hun. Tell me what's goin' on here."_

_"I've... had it for a while," he replied vaguely, drumming his fingers on the desk behind him._

_"How long is 'a while'?"_

_"A few hundred years. I haven't been counting too much."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because..." he trailed, refusing to look her in the eye for fear of what he may see when he finished explaining. "Because there are those days, Anti-Wanda, where sometimes I think that... I think that it is not all worth it."_

_"What ain't worth it?" his lover asked, cocking her head to one side. "I can be a betta wife, if that's what y'all are thinkin'..."_

_"It's not that, my beloved. You are what's kept me from using that thing in the first place."_

_"Wha?"_

_He swallowed. "I go to that safe those days, Anti-Wanda. Those days that make me feel like..." he trailed._

_"Like...?"_

_"Like... dying."_

_Anti-Wanda's stomach turned. "Ya... Y'all are plannin' ta k- kill yerself?"_

_"I plan on doing nothing of the sort."_

_"But-"_

_"Just let me finish." When he saw his wife nod with his peripheral vision, he continued, "I keep those pictures and those notes there to remind me that there is someone in this universe that actually loves me. Anti-Wanda, you have saved my life countless times over."_

_She looked at the blade she held and dropped it. "Why's there some ember-eyes on it?"_

_"That's emeriei, dear, and it's there because... well..." As he mustered up the courage to look at her, he sighed. "I used it."_

_"Yer a ghost?"_

_"No. When they reported sightings of him, I wanted to... to end this nightmare for both of us."_

_"Wha?"_

_"That's right, dear," he stated. "I killed my father."_

:::

"Juandissimo!"

The Hispanic turned around and flashed a sexy grin. "Hola, mi amor. What brings you to me?"

"I..." she looked down, fighting tears as she said the words she hoped she would never say again. "I love you, Juandissimo."

"I knew you would give into me sooner or later," chuckled Juandissimo as he pulled Wanda into his arms.

Wanda couldn't help but smile as she returned the embrace. "I'd forgotten how sexy you were."

"You must have a muy malo memory."

Wanda giggled. Her head was screaming at her to let go, to run, to stop laughing with the man who hurt her so much, but her heart would not obey. The serum from the arrow that had scratched her was pumping through her veins, and no matter how much she wanted to, she could not resist. "Yeah. I guess I do. Kiss me."

"My pleasure, my love."

Something about the kiss didn't seem right to Wanda. It seemed cold and void of emotion, unlike the kisses Cosmo gave her, which were full of love and warmth. But she kissed Juandissimo back anyway, knowing that she, to some degree, had no choice. When she pulled away, his lips slid from her mouth to her neck and she let a small "Mmm" of pleasure escape her.

_What the hell are you doing? He abused you! He raped you! Get away from him!_

_I can't..._

_But he'll kill you!_

_He loves me._

_What about Cosmo?_

_Fuck him. I'm safer with Juandissimo._

_Did you really just think that? You and Cosmo were meant to be, and what do you say? "Fuck him"? Cosmo's stupid, but he would never hurt you the way Juandissimo has. So stop it! Get away from him!_

_I can't..._

_Love arrow, shmove arrow! Run!_

_I can't..._

_You're a stupid whore, you know that?_

_I love him..._


	17. Essence

Just a note for the last chapter:

Anti-Cosmo said he was worried has father would find him, but later said he killed him. He was (and perhaps still is) worried about the spirit finding him; not the being himself.

:::

"I think the killer got him," Thomas fretted, wringing his hands as his wife sat down beside him on the couch. "Timmy's been missing for days."

"Don't worry, honey," Tara comforted him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. The killer hasn't struck again lately. Who knows? Maybe that Buxaplenty boy was the only kid he was after."

"As stupid and gullible as I am, I doubt that's true," he sighed.

"Maybe he ran away."

A long silence developed before they started hugging, wailing, "We're bad parents!"

"We should have paid more attention to him!"

"Oh, Thomas, we're terrible!"

"Where are you, Timmy?" they cried. "I love you! Come home!"

:::

"He's in ashes now," Jorgen murmured quietly, staring at the pile of remains where Cupid's body used to be.

"Ashes?" Timmy asked.

"When the essence is sucked out of a being," Jorgen explained, "whether it is a puny human, fairy, Anti-Fairy or pixie, they turn into ashes."

"Is that why I didn't see any bodies in Anti-Cosmo's palace?"

Jorgen nodded. "Most likely. But where did Cupid's essence go? Anti-Cosmo isn't here to take it." He cracked his neck and grunted, "We've been here hours. I hope Poof is still okay."

"Kind of a stupid idea to leave him at your house with Juandissimo hanging around," Timmy observed.

"Do not patronize me, Turner."

:::

Cosmo bit his lip and started crying. "No! I don't want a needle!"

Studwell sighed and the needle poofed away in a cloud of purple smoke. "It won't hurt. Really."

"But... but it's sharp and pointy!" Cosmo wailed, pulling his covers over his head.

"Do it for Wanda."

At the mention of Wanda, Cosmo became silent and slowly poked his head out from under the sheets.

"It'll make you better and Wanda will like that," Studwell continued, getting a different needle. "Speaking of Wanda, were is she, anyway?"

Cosmo shrugged, wincing as his shoulders cracked again. "I dunno." He frowned. "I miss her."

"I bet you do," Studwell muttered absentmindedly as he prepared Cosmo's arm for the shot.

"Where do you think she might be?" he asked, worried about if the love arrow had been too strong to let Wanda's love for him last.

"I don't know," came another inattentive mumble. "Wherever she is, I'm sure she's safe, because Juandissimo left a long time ago."

Tears sprang into Cosmo's eyes, and he finally felt it; the rage, hatred, hopelessness and all the other emotions he had been suppressing for thousands of years. The emotions he had carried around with him for so long, but never conveyed, had finally broken through the container in which he had held them in.

_If only I were strong. Then I could have saved her instead of being here and not being able to do anything! Why did I have to be this way? Why couldn't I be someone big and strong... someone Wanda actually would be happy with?_

_Don't be silly, Cosmo. She's always been happy with you._

_Oh yeah, funny little second voice in my head who doesn't sound like me? What about when we were dating? She was really unhappy! Don't you remember that huge fight?_

_Of course I do. I know every little up and down in your relationship.  
_

_You know everything about me? It's like you're me. Wait... I'm two people?_

_No, Cosmo. You are one fairy, and half a soul._

_Half?_

_You and Wanda make one. Duh.  
_

_No we don't. I'll show you that fight in a flashback to remind you that I'm a terrible husband._

_Boyfriend. You were a boyfriend then.  
_

_I'm still a terrible husband._

_Puh-leez!_

:::_  
_

June 12, 8542 B.C.

_"Wanda?_"

_Silence._

"_Wanda, please talk to me."_

_She lifted her head and sprang up from her fetal position into what looked to be a fighting stance. "You! You did this! This is all your fault!"_

_"Wh- what?" Cosmo asked, feeling hurt at the way Wanda just attacked him like that. "What's my fault?"_

_"Juandissimo's pissed!" she exclaimed through gritted teeth. "I don't know why, but I think he found out that I'm cheating on him with you! This is all. Your. Fault!"_

_"B- but I haven't told anyone!" Cosmo claimed._

_"So? Juandissimo has his ways," Wanda stated ominously. "Who knows? Maybe he has spies." She glanced around, then shouted, "Stop talking to me! I don't ever want to see you again!"_

_"B- but we have three classes together..."_

_"That's not what I meant!" Wanda screamed. "Just don't ever talk to me! You've caused me nothing but pain! I hate you!" She turned on her heel and stormed off, leaving Cosmo to sink to his knees and cry._

:::_  
_

"Cosmo?" Studwell asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay? You look really upset."

"..Yeah, I guess." Cosmo sighed and started thinking again.

_See? I'm the worst husband ever!_

_You were a boyfriend then. That was when she thought Juandissimo was "the one"._

_Stop it! You're sounding smart, and that's not me! Who are you? You're not me!_

_You're right. I'm not._

_Wha?_

_I'm not you._

_Wha?_

_I am a ghost sent to aid you in your quest for Wanda._

_Wha?_

_I am here to help you get Wanda to love you again._

_She doesn't love me?_

_Not with the love arrow's serum in her blood._

_Who are you?_

_Cupid._

_Don't change the subject! Who are you?_

_Cosmo, don't you get it?_

_No._

_I am Cupid._

_But Cupid's dead!_

_I'm a ghost._

_A ghost? AH!  
_

_Don't be scared, silly. _

_But... ghosts are scary._

_Fine, fine, I'll put it in a way that won't scare you. I'm not a ghost._

_Wha? But you just said you were._

_I'm not._

_I'm confused. Are you Cupid or not?  
_

_I am his essence.  
_

:::

Wanda rubbed her temples, trying to make sense of everything. A few days ago, she was madly in love with Cosmo and she hated Juandissimo with a fiery passion. Now it was almost the other way around.

All because of a stupid little scratch.

How could something so small make something so... so...

_What's the word for it? Huge? Life-changing? Unbelievable?_

"Wanda, what is wrong? You look troubled."

Wanda smiled. The only thing that was unbelievable was that she had ever chosen Cosmo over someone like Juandissimo.

_Unbelievable? He. Raped. You!_

_Shut up!_

"Wanda?" Juandissimo knelt down beside her, looking concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Wanda sighed, grinning. "No, I'm fine! Everything's fine with you around!" She hugged him like a lovesick human schoolgirl would hug Edward Cullen, and giggled.

_Why are you saying this?_

_Because I love him! Shut up!_

"I am happy that you think so," Juandissimo replied, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.

Wanda giggled again. Had she ever laughed like this with Cosmo? "I'll always think so, you sexy thing."

Juandissimo laughed. Looking at him now, it was hard to believe that he was a killer, that he was a rapist, that he had ever done anything to hurt the ones around him.

He looked innocent. Innocent and sexy.

_Sexy? Right. Only to a masochist whore._


	18. Alone

_So that little whore is finally dead, _he thought to himself as he narrowed his bright red eyes. _What a relief; all she did was get in the way. It took that stupid half-breed long enough to snuff her out! All I should do now is materialize myself and-_

His thoughts broke when he ducked down as his son turned around, apparently aware that he was not alone. _He can't see you now, dumbass, _he scolded himself, _he hasn't been able to for over the past thousand years. Unless he can see essence... but my research told me that essence could only be seen when you are deeply, deeply attached to someone, and only heard when they want you to hear them. Unless you are materialized, of course._

His transparent head slipped over the bottom of the window again and he grinned. For some reason he had never lost his interest in his younger son; the older one had been too aware of what had been really going on for the man to have any fun. Perhaps... perhaps that was because he hadn't started on Anti-Schnozmo early enough...

"Hello, Father."

He was startled to see Anti-Cosmo staring at him, a distasteful expression on his blue face. "Hello, son. Long time no stab."

"Ha ha ha ha ha," Anti-Cosmo snarled sarcastically, cocking his head to one side for each "ha" has he placed his gloved hands on his hips. "You deserved it, you bloody bastard. You manipulated me, you tortured me, you used my innocence for your own pleasure for years on en-"

"Silence, child," Anti-Darrakei ordered, swatting the cold air with his large hand.

"I am not a child any longer!" Anti-Cosmo growled, raising his fists. "You do not control me!"

"Really?" his father asked mockingly. "In all my years watching you, I haven't seen anyone get you so angry so fast."

"Perhaps because my past with anyone else is nothing like the one I have with you," he spat.

"Temper, temper." Anti-Derrakei shook his head, as if disappointed. "Is that the way your wife would want you to act?"

Anti-Cosmo remained silent for a while as his eyes flashed with a deep hurt; his father had obviously hit a huge nerve. "Leave Anti-Wanda out of this," he finally managed, fighting tears at the mention of his wife.

"Why? She was obviously a big part of your life."

"Is, Father. She still is," came the quiet retort. He hung his head, not wanting his father to see how weak he was becoming.

"You are crying."

"I most certainly am not!" he choked.

Anti-Darrakei raised his eyebrows. "Then you are about to."

"Wrong again."

"Then may I ask what you you are doing?"

Anti-Cosmo said nothing. He only looked up, glared at his tormentor, and poofed away in a rush of mixed emotions.

:::

_Anti-Cozzie?_

...

_Anti-Cozzie, please tell me yer aite._

...

_Please!_

_Are you really near me, or am I hearing things again?_

_I'm right here, swee'pea._

_Where?_

_In ya head._

_But I did not consume you like I did the others..._

_I came in here by mahself._

_I see._

_Ya okay, honey?_

_...Not without your arms around me, my beloved._

_Aww. Yer so sweet._

_I mean it, dear._

_But are ya okay? Ya ain't dead or anythin', right?_

_No. I'm very much alive at the moment, unfortunately._

_Don' say that._

_Why ever not?_

_I know y'all are sad an' stuff about me dyin' an' all, but I ain't worth killin' yerself ova._

_Anti-Wanda..._

_Yus?_

_You truly do not know how deeply I care for you... how madly I am in love with you... if you did you would know that I would die for you without a second thought._

_There ya go again._

_What?_

_Stop it! I don' likes it when ya lie!_

_I'm not lying._

_Don' lie ta me!_

_But I'm not! Anti-Wanda, I love you! Why would I ever lie to you?  
_

_I'm thinkin' maybe. And- uh oh. Anti-Cozzie?_

_Yes, Anti-Wanda?_

_...I should go.  
_

_Anti-Wanda, don't go..._

_I have ta. See ya later, hun... I hope._

_Anti-Wanda! Anti-Wanda, please come back!_

_..._

_Please, love! Please! Do not leave me here alone! I can't stand the thought!  
_

_..._

_Let me hear your beautiful voice again._

_..._

_Do not leave. I don't want to be alone._

_..._

_I don't want to be alone...  
_

:::

"Nana Boom Boom?" Jorgen called as he arrived inside his house. "Hello?"

A woman who looked like an old, female Jorgen but still a good five feet shorter came through the door with Poof in her muscly arms. "Hello." Even her voice was like her grandson's!

"Oh." Timmy looked embarrassed. "So you didn't leave him here alone."

"No. I'm not that stupid, Turner."

"Sometimes I wonder."

"Care to say that again?"

Timmy chuckled nervously. "No thanks... I'm good."

:::

A few days ago, Wanda would have screamed when she opened her eyes to the scene before her.

Or, she recalled, she would have thought of screaming, considered the consequences, then thought better of it. Then she would do her best to slip out of the bed without disturbing Juandissimo, got her clothes, made up a story to tell Cosmo, and took her wand to poof home. Then, when Juandissimo found out that she had gone, he would have hunted her down and beaten (or maybe raped) her, claiming that he loved her and she obviously loved him because she had willingly submitted herself to him.

And then Cosmo would, some way or another, find out, and she would do all she could to stop him from getting himself torn to pieces by Juandissimo because she had loved him back then. But instead of entering that dramatic scenario, she decided to just lay there, breathing deeply, and put her head on Juandissimo's firm, hairless chest.

Because she had loved him back then. Wow, there was something she never thought she would say. It had seemed like Cosmo had been "the one"; the one that was made for her, the one that would always love her, the one she would spend the rest of her endless life with.

_He **is **"the one"!_

"Good morning," Juandissimo murmured to her groggily. "Did you sleep well, darling?"

"Mm-hm," Wanda smiled. "I had a really nice dream."

"Do tell."

"We were getting mar-ried," Wanda smiled in a singsong tune.

"Ooh."

"Yeah. It was nice. I had a sexy dress and everything."

"Ah, but mi amor, you look sexy in anything," chuckled Juandissimo as he ran his hand up her bare torso.

Wanda giggled as a shiver raced down her spine.

_Stop laughing! Cosmo needs you! _The voice in her head, for a change, didn't sound like her at all. Oh well, it was still her inner voice, whether it changed itself or not._  
_

_But I don't need him._

She expected her inner voice to retort with a nasty comment, but it instead went silent and said nothing, as if it were finally giving up.

_What? Out of snappy comments?_

_..._

_Hey... what are you all quiet for? Was it something I said?_

_..._

_Are you okay? Look, whatever I said, I'm sorry... I like talking to you... It fills the awkward silences._

_I'm... not okay._

_Okay. You're definitely not me. You sound like someone I know, but I can't place it! Who and what the hell are you?_

_Me? Oh, only the person who set you up with Cosmo._

_...Ivy?_

_Ivy? No! Not Ivy! Sheesh! It's me, silly!_

_...Me? Yeah, that helps._

_**CUPID!**_

_Oh..._

"Is something troubling you, mi amor?"

Wanda glanced around. "No. No, I'm okay."

"Mmm." Juandissimo seemed satisfied, so he got out of the bed and started dressing. Wanda lay there, continuing to converse with Cupid.

_So... you must be Cupid essence._

_Yup._

_What are you doing here?_

_Trying to help you fall in love with Cosmo again._

_Uh? I don't need you, thanks. I love Juandissimo now._

_Listen to me, Wanda! I loved Juandissimo just as much, if not more, than you do now! And what did I do? He broke my heart and killed me! What makes you think that he won't do the same thing to you, at some point or another?_

_He loves me. He didn't love you._

_But you two aren't meant for this! You're meant to be with Cosmo! Let me help you._

_And if I refuse your "help"?_

The voice was silent for a moment, then replied in a tone that sounded half-angry, half-hurt, _Then I guess you'll have to die alone._


	19. Shocking

"It's _you!_"

Anti-Wanda gulped as she reeled back under the menacing stare of Clarice. "Er... howdy. Long time an' no see, eh?"

Clarice narrowed her eyes at the Anti-Fairy's spirit and growled, but before she could fling back a stinging retort, Remy walked between them and inquired, "What exactly is going on here?"

"This little bitch," Clarice snarled, "is the one who stole the love of my life away from me."

Remy widened his eyes, startled; in the time he had spent with Clarice, it had appeared that it look a lot to get her worked up. This was very out of character for her!

"It ain't mah fault!" Anti-Wanda protested, looking innocent as an Anti-Fairy could. "I didn't ask Anti-Cosmo ta fall in love with me... he jus'... ya know... did."

Both the Anti-Fairy and Remy were frightened by Clarice's violet glare. The look reminded them both of Juandissimo's villainy, something they could certainly go on without. "I loved him more than life itself, Fairywinkle."

"Imma Cosma now..."

"Oh, that's right, me _married _you, didn't he?" snorted the dead bride. "He doesn't love you any more than he loved me. What, he killed you too?"

"That ain't true!" Anti-Wanda exclaimed. "Anti-Cozzie loves me so much he'd die for me! He even said so himself! He would neva kill me!"

"Then who did?"

"Juandissimo."

Clarice snorted. "Did it ever occur to you, slow as you are, that those two might be in cahoots? Sheesh! They're father and son, for Pete's sake!"

"Mah husband would neva wanna kill me..."

"He was using you."

Anti-Wanda looked to be on the verge of tears.

_Now girls, be nice._

They stopped and looked around. "Anti-Cozzie?" Anti-Wanda finally ventured.

_Indeed, it is me. Clarice? _His voice seemed disembodied and echoy._  
_

"...Yes, master?"

_Do not question my love for Anti-Wanda. You should know that I loved her dearly._

This seemed to make Clarice even angrier. "You didn't love me!"

_That would be because we weren't meant to be._

"But I loved you with all my heart!" Clarice cried. "You manipulated me!"

_I am an Anti-Fairy. Manipulation is in my blood. You should know that after I told you what my father did.  
_

Clarice looked down at Remy. "You might want to leave now."

"Not a chance."

"Leave," Anti-Wanda insisted. "This ain't for small ears, kiddo. Y'all should go."

"What?" Remy challenged. "What is so bad that I can't hear it? I've witness a beating, an attempted rape, and I've been murdered. I'm pretty sure that I can handle whatever his dad did." A memory flashed behind him as he finished and he spun around to see it. The man he had seen before was standing here, with a hungry look in his evil eyes.

_Indeed, Buxaplenty, you have seen much, and I must give you credit. But you have not seen what happened between the two of us for years._

"Oh? I'm pretty sure." Remy crossed his arms defiantly.

"Go, please!" Anti-Wanda requested, looking worried. "Anti-Cozzie has one of them deep dark secrets, ya hear? He don't want no one but me an' Clarice to know."

_That would be "Clarice and me", dear._

"Then he shouldn't talk to us. Why aren't the other spirits hearing?" he asked, glancing at Ecar, who seemed oblivious as the others were to the conversation.

_I only wish to speak with you three. I hear everything that goes on in my head, Remy, and I know who to talk to._

"So you have voices in your head?"

"Yes."

Remy snorted. "Well, _that _doesn't make you sound insane in the slightest."

_Listen here, child, I am not psychologically unstable in the slightest! The actions I took were perfectly normal for what happened to me!_

"Remy, for the love a' sandwiches, go!" Anti-Wanda cried.

They heard Anti-Cosmo sigh. _No, no, my beloved._

"Don't call her that!" Clarice interrupted.

_Silence, Clarice! Anti-Wanda, leave the boy be. It's obvious he won't give up until I tell him what went between us, so I may as well tell him._

"Finally!" Remy grinned. "What is this so-called 'secret'?"

Anti-Wanda bit her lip as her husband replied, _It is something you, hopefully, have never had to come across in your life._

Remy raised a blond eyebrow. "At this point, I've seen everything."

_I'll bet you a good cup of tea you haven't seen child molestation, Remy._

:::

_The room was dark and quiet as Anti-Cosmo held his head in his hands, trying to deal with the brutal memories that ravaged his mind._

_"Hun?" Anti-Wanda, who looked very troubled, flicked on the light. "You aite? Ya look real worried."_

_"I'm..." Anti-Cosmo couldn't finish the sentence with the lump in his throat. "Anti-Wanda, sit down... there's something I must tell you."_

_She sat down beside him on the couch and held his wrist. "Aite, somthin's wrong here. Ya sound like yer about ta cry... I ain't eva seen ya cry before."_

_"Then you obviously don't see me often."_

_"Aww." Anti-Wanda scooched closer to him. "What's it ya gotta tell me, sweetie?"_

_He lifted his head from his hands. "Do you know what 'molestation' means, dear?"_

_"Ain't that somethin' bad that ya do ta hurt yer kids?"_

_"...Yes."_

_"How does it hurt, anyways? What kind of things even happen?"_

_"...Sexual things, my love."  
_

_Anti-Wanda bit her lip, having a sickening feeling of where this conversation was heading. "Anti-Cozzie... why do ya hate ya daddy so much?"_

_Anti-Cosmo felt a tear roll down his cheek, and he rested his head on his wife's shoulder. "From the sound of your voice, I can guess you can figure out what happened." He whimpered. "It went on for years."  
_

_Anti-Wanda patted his head in an attempt to comfort him. "But y'all are so durn smart... didn'cha know that it was wrong?"_

_He sighed. "No. No, I didn't. 'Father-Son Rituals', he called them." He snorted disgustedly. "He said it was something that helped me on my way to manhood. And when I wanted to tell my very few friends? He said that the rituals were sacred to each family, and I mustn't desecrate the spirit of it by speaking of it."_

:::

"He confided in me too," Clarice sighed. "That was a horrible day. I couldn't sleep for a long time."

_I'm touched you felt so deeply towards me._

"Whatever."

Remy stood there, silent, until he said, "Great. Just great. Now I _have _seen it all."

_They warned you._

Remy didn't respond.

:::

_"You knew about Juandissimo all along, didn't you?" he asked his wife, lifting his head up from her shoulder only to put it back there again as another sob rippled through him._

_"Yeah," Anti-Wanda admitted. "Soon as ya mentioned that Clarice lady I put it together."_

_"I'm impressed. That's quite uncharacteristic for someone of your IQ."_

_"...Imma take that as a compliment and **not **make ya sleep on the couch tonight, kay?"_

_"I'm well read, dear," he stated, changing the subject. "I've read about the studies. I never meant for the boy to be a killer, I just wanted to distance myself."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because," Anti-Cosmo explained, "people who are... hurt in their childhood are likely to do the same to their children. Juandissimo is my son. I love him. I didn't want him to go through what I had. So I stayed away." He sighed again, taking Anti-Wanda's hand. "I suppose we both paid for that in the long run, didn't we, love?"_

:::

Wanda screamed.

"No! No! This is all wrong! You've made a mistake!" she accused, pointing at Studwell. "This can't be happening!"

"Well, whether you like it or not, it's true," Studwell shrugged. "Shall I tell Juandissimo?"

"No! Dear god, no!" she cried. "Are you crazy? He's a fairy too! He couldn't have-"

"He's a half-breed," Studwell stated calmly. "He's just as capable as any Anti-Fairy was. Ooh, what about Cosmo? Should I tell him?"

"Do you want to get _throttled_?"

Studwell responded with a weak "meep" and turned back to his charts. "We're done here, Wanda," he said after a while. "You can go."

"Okay." As she left, she contemplated what Juandissimo would do if he found out. Well, he did this, wouldn't he be happy? Yeah, he loved her. Of course he'd be happy...

Of course...

And maybe he'd give her some flowers.

And chocolate...

_That would be nice..._

"Wanda! Dear god! Nurse!"

"Wanda!"

"Cosmo, get back in your room!"

"But-"

"_GO!"_

Cosmo's wails of terror were the last thing she remembered before she slipped into darkness.

:::

_"Is she okay?"_

_"I hope not."_

_"Mama, don't be mean! Wanda! Wanda, wake up! Please! Please be okay!"_

What? Where was she? Why was everyone so worried?

_"She's moving! Call Dr. Studwell!"_

_"Dr. RIP Studwell!"_

_"Darn! She's alive."_

_"MOM!"_

She opened her eyes. For a while, everything was fuzzy; it was like looking through a piece of foggy glass. After a while, things got clearer and she could see Mama Cosma, Cosmo, and Juandissimo over her, each with different expressions in their eyes. Mama Cosma's eyes contained frustration (_Surprise, surprise, _Wanda thought), Cosmo's eyes showed mixes of worry, relief and love, and Juandissimo's eyes held love and hunger. (Strangely enough, it was mostly hunger.)

"I'm so happy you're okay..." Cosmo breathed, grabbing her hand.

She yanked it away and glared at him, much to Mama Cosma's surprise and eternal delight. "Back off!" she snarled, making Cosmo reel back and blink back tears. Now his pine-green eyes showed only confusion.

"Wanda, mi amor, thank goodness you are all right!" Juandissimo kissed her cheek and gazed smugly at Cosmo, who was now looking angry enough to kill Juandissimo, or at the very least, yank his ponytail clean out.

At that point, Studwell came in and ordered Cosmo back to his room. Cosmo made no protests; it was clear that Wanda no longer loved him, and he was too hurt to really care. "You fainted again," he told Wanda after she asked what had happened. "This time you had adrius running down your arm."

Juandissimo's eyes darted around the room for a while.

"Juan?"

"Hmm?" He turned his attention back to Wanda.

"There's something I should tell you."

"And that would be what?"

Wanda grinned and looked down. "Poof is having a half-sibling."

"...What?"

"I'm pregnant."

:::

Wow, I wrote this in one day. O.o

Anyway, things are heating up! Make sure to tune in next time! (Or whatever you do for stories. Read in? Check in? Hmmmm...)

~Mikichu


	20. Up Until Now

After Juandissimo had a little fainting session of his own, Mama Cosma, still laughing inside from Wanda's complete rejection of her son (which sounded a bit sadistic as she looked back on it), went back to Cosmo's room.

She found him lying underneath the covers, sobbing uncontrollably, in a fetal position. His mother only rolled her eyes and pulled the sheets off from over his head. She noted that a large portion of the bottom sheet was wet- most likely with tears. "Oh, Cosmo, don't be so glum. I told you she wasn't any good for you."

"Go away," he sniffed, snatching the covers back.

Mama Cosma placed her hands on her hips in an authoritative fashion. "Cosmo-lolo, don't be like this. Mummy's gonna make it all better."

There was a pause. "Can you make Wanda fall in love with me again?"

Mama Cosma laughed. "Now why would I do that?"

"Because I can't live without her."

Much as she racked her brain for one, his mother couldn't find a response to that except to sit down and put her hand on where she guessed his shoulder was (he was once again obscured by the blankets.) "Now, sweetie-" she began, but didn't finish because Cosmo interrupted her.

"Don't even start, Mama! I don't care what you think! I know you don't like Wanda, but I _love _her. I love her with all of my heart, and just because you hate her doesn't mean that I have to hate her too. Wanda was the reason for every smile I had, the reason I got up every morning, the reason I even let myself stay alive, and do you know why? Because she made me feel like I was worth something. Like I mattered. Like there was actually someone in this universe that really, truly loved me, and that needed me as much as I needed them. Wanda made me feel special in a way that no one else ever could; not Blonda, not the Tooth Fairy, not Clarice, Ivy, Calypse, **_no one._** Not even you, Mama."

She was quite taken aback by her son's uncharacteristically deep and thoughtful speech; he had made a similar one before, but it hadn't been as long or tear-jerking as this one. Still, though, Mama Cosma had always remembered it:

_"I'm not right. Big words confuse me. I have the attention span of a rodent... and Wanda loves me anyway. She makes me happy, and that should be enough for you!"_

Maybe Cosmo had been right to leave her and run away with Wanda. Maybe Mama Cosma had been stupid and irresponsible to try and split them apart. After all, from what she was witnessing, it was safe to say that Cosmo would have been devastated had she ever succeeded.

"...Mama, are you still there?"

"Yes, sweetie."

A sniff and a sob. "Don't call be sweetie, Mama. Wanda called me that."

His mother bit back a nasty retort. As much as her son loved Wanda, she just could not bring herself to do the same!

:::

The fact that he could not sleep alone was not something that Anti-Cosmo had enjoyed learning about himself.

The night had always terrified him, though obviously he would never admit to such an absurd phobia. He knew, of course, that it was the memories from his childhood placing him in this position, but he had always refused it, saying they were just small, silly anxieties.

_So you called your greatest fears silly worries?_

_Yes. Silly anxieties, my wing. Sometimes I amaze myself with my idiocy._

His wife never dismissed such a huge fear as a small worry; she knew full well that she was completely and utterly terrified of thunder and lightning. Anti-Wanda was afraid of thunderstorms, he recalled, because her mother had disappeared on such a stormy night (because Wanda's own mother had been murdered) and she had been afraid ever since that whoever took her mother would one day come for her.

_Every night you guys fell asleep in each others arms, protecting each other... it was like a ritual of sorts._

_Don't say that word! Don't say it!  
_

It was not a ritual, he thought fiercely, shuddering at what the word meant to him. It was just something they had done so they would drift into the dreamworld, and Anti-Cosmo loved it. Whenever they fought, he knew that night he could apologize (because fighting wasn't actually the correct term; it was more like him overreacting to something and eventually making her cry, which he felt absolutely terrible after) and they could make amends. When the day had been glum, unproductive or just plain insane, he knew that at the end of it all he could crawl into bed next to her and let all his troubles melt away. It was strange how cuddling could bring such joy to a creature bent to be so dark and heartless.

_Yeah, you two were absolutely perfect together._

_You're rubbing salt on my wounds, Cupid._

_Sorry. I just had to._

_I understand. _Anti-Cosmo turned over on his other side, curling up in a fetal position like his fairy counterpart was currently doing. _So why are you here? Don't bother trying to find me someone else, if that is what you had in mind._

_What? _Cupid sounded utterly shocked. _Didn't you just hear me? I could never find someone else for you! You two were the best case I'd had in years. Heck, even in death, you still are! You two are right up there where Cosmo and Wanda were before that meanie scratched her with my arrow. Besides, it would break Anti-Wanda's heart to see you with another woman._

_Touche, Cupid. I would never want to hurt her._

_Mm-hm! _Cupid seemed satisfied.

_So that doesn't answer my question, _Anti-Cosmo thought, reverting back to the original topic. _Why are you here? With me? Instead of setting some young lovers up for life?_

_You're thinking back to your High School days, aren't you, when you say that?_

_Of course._

_I'm here because I got murdered too, by the way._

_By whom? _Well, Anti-Cosmo definitely wasn't getting any sleep now!

_I'm sure you know._

_...I do, _came the grimly unsurprised response._  
_

_Remember when you proposed?_

_Mmm, I do remember that. I still can't believe she thought I was going to break up with her. It took her until I pulled out the ring for her to catch on._

_I know._

_You were watching?_

_You two were so in love. I love love. I had to watch._

_Stalker. _Anti-Cosmo was a bit surprised at his uncharacteristic response; it seemed like they way an immature teen would react._  
_

He heard Cupid laugh, and he did the same despite the situation. _Funny. I never considered an Anti-Fairy someone fun to talk to, _Cupid stated._ I learned something new today!_

_Well. You certainly need to work on those insults, Cupid, that one almost sounded like a compliment._

_Ha ha, silly, it **was **a compliment! Hey, what happened to the rings?_

_Anti-Wanda's wedding ring?_

_Yeah, and her engagement ring._

_I'm wearing them... it's a nice way to remember her while I watch Juandissimo die at my hands._

_Ack! Dark! Sheesh._

_My apologize. We Anti-Fairies have a nasty habit of thinking morbidly._

_I can see that._

_Ah, but you're the god of love. You see all._

:::

The night was long and cold in Fairy World, leaving Cosmo plenty of time to cry over losing Wanda. Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, and one little scratch had changed everything! And yet when Cosmo almost landed Wanda in the hospital she never left him. Until Juandissimo. Until that arrow.

Until that scratch.

_Cosmo? Are you okay?_

_No, Cupid, I'm not! She hates me!_

_Uh oh. _Cupid sounded very worried. _This is worse than I thought._

_She told me to back off when I grabbed her hand when she woke up from fainting. I was just glad she was okay, that's all! It's as if she never loved me in the first place._

_What?_

_Yeah. _Cosmo sobbed again._ What did I do, Cupid?_

_You? You didn't do anything. That meanie Juandissimo did it!_

_Don't you love him?_

_Love him? _Cupid sounded utterly disgusted. _I loved him for what he seemed to be, Cosmo; not what he really was.__  
_


	21. Arrival

Wow, this took a long time.

Thank you to all of my lovely reviewers! In case you were wondering, there should be about... I don't know, seven chapters left? In truth, I have no idea when this monster is going to end, for this was originally to be six chapters and have no deaths. Well, _that _didn't work out too well, not did it? So all in all, keep watching this story, and hopefully (HOPEFULLY) it will end soon without me having to sacrifice too many other characters.

And on with the story...

:::

_Cosmo lay in his bed that night, thinking about nothing but Wanda. She had apparently gotten over the fact that Juandissimo "had spies everywhere", or whatever she was supposed to get over, and she loved him again. When she told him this, Cosmo had jumped up and down in joy and kissed her, and Wanda said that since her daddy was away on a trip for his company, she could even sneak over to his place later that night._

_His thoughts were interrupted by a quiet knock on the window. Cosmo hopped out of bed, noting that it was cold and was grateful for his fuzzy red jammies. Outside the window was Wanda. Her hair was let down, cascading over her shoulders in pink waves, and her eyes held excitement. Her shirt and jeans clung to her skin, and Cosmo wasted no time in opening the window and letting her through.  
_

_Wanda hopped through it, accidentally knocking over a vase filled with roses on Cosmo's nightstand. He quickly caught it, alarm in his green eyes."Wanda, be quiet!" he hissed worriedly. "Mama might hear us."_

_Wanda raised her wand and soundproofed the room, a smug smile on her face. "Not now, she won't."_

_Cosmo blinked and grinned, hugging Wanda. "I'm so glad you're here."_

_"So am I." She gave him a firm, passionate kiss on the lips and Cosmo happily closed his eyes and put his hands on her waist. When they pulled apart, Wanda sat down on Cosmo's bed and sighed. _

_"Something wrong?"_

_"Juandissimo and I started fighting."_

_Cosmo immediately felt angry. Wanda was here to love him, not complain to him that she was hurting because she loved another man! She was here to forget that she already had a boyfriend, that she needed someone else, that Juandissimo even existed. Cosmo had opened that window for love, not heartbreak._

_"Cosmo?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"Did you hear me?"_

_Cosmo sighed. "What did you say?"_

_"I... I think I should break up with him."_

_Cosmo's eyebrows nearly shot right off his head. "Wh- what? Won't he hurt you?"_

_"I don't care. I love you, Cosmo."_

_Cosmo blinked, then grinned and sat down beside her, giving her a soft peck on the lips. "I love you too, Wanda."_

_Wanda looked him dead in the eye. "You know what, Cosmo?"_

_"What?"_

_"It feels..." Wanda searched for the correct word as her arms encircled his neck, "...different."_

_Cosmo cocked his head to one side. "What does?"_

_Wanda touched noses with him. "When you kiss me. It feels different."_

_Cosmo looked worried. "Good different or bad different?"_

_Wanda kissed him again; it was long and lingering, and the only answer Cosmo needed. "I wonder if..."_

_"If what, Wanda?"_

_Wanda was silent for a moment. "If... if everything you do with will feel better than when he does it."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_Again, there was silence. "Cosmo..."_

_He sensed the hesitation in her voice and wrapped his arms around her. "Wanda, what is it? Please tell me."_

_"I don't want it to look like I want things to go too fast," Wanda murmured softly._

_Cosmo shrugged. What did it matter? It wasn't like there was anything he wasn't willing to do with Wanda anyway, except maybe break up with her. And "anything" included-_

_"If you made love to me, would it feel different?"_

_Cosmo stared at her for a moment. "What?"_

_Wanda bit her lip and pulled out of his embrace, turning away and returning her arms to her sides. "That's what I thought."_

_"Did you just say what I think you just said?" he asked, feeling a smile twitching at the corner of his lips. If she did, which he was sure of, that meant she loved him just as much as he loved her._

_Wanda, who was still facing with her back to him, took the question the wrong way and sobbed, "I'm sorry, Cosmo! I didn't mean to make everything awkward! It's just... I... I..."_

_"It's okay," Cosmo grinned, putting his hand on her shoulder._

_Wanda looked at him as he did so and saw the large smile on his face. "You... you're smiling..."_

_"Yeah. What were you saying, Wanda?"_

_"If you made love to me..." Wanda paused for a moment, picking her words. "Would it feel different? Better? Less... less painful?"_

_The grin remained plastered on the emerald fairy's face as he gently laid Wanda down on his bed, twirling her hair in one finger. "There's only one way to find out."_

_And so it began. Their tongues slipped inside each other's mouths as Cosmo's hand slid up her tight cotton shirt to feel the soft glory of her breasts. As she undid the buttons on his fuzzy red PJ top, his lips descended from her mouth to her neck. She emitted a quiet moan; now she knew that she had been right. This felt better. This was how it was supposed to feel: beautiful, gratifying, magical._

_He stopped kissing her neck just long enough to slip her shirt over her head before he began again, unhooking her bra and sliding even lower, licking at the underside of her breasts. She reached up to nibble oh his ear when she heard the sound of a door rattling, then opening._

_"Cosmo?"_

_"Oh... Hey, Mama."  
_

:::

The dawn broke long after Anti-Cosmo had given up any hope of sleep and Cupid fled from his mind. As he rolled out of bed and changed into his everyday clothes, he wondered if Anti-Wanda still resided within his head.

_Anti-Wanda? Anti-Wanda, hello? Hello?_

Apparently not.

So now she wasn't with him even in spirit. Well, that was just bloody fantastic. He had recently run out of tea, his wife had been murdered, his son was on an unnecessary killing spree, and the other was locked up in jail somewhere.

Oh, how he hated his life.

He always had, since he found out what his father had really been doing to him. That was why he had run away, but his father eventually found him. Found him, and tore his wings out. Many said he was lucky to have survived that. (Later on, he got surgical implants.) Lucky. Who were they to say that? From how he had seen it, he was unlucky to not have fallen asleep and never woken up again.

And then he met Anti-Wanda.

He shook his head, fighting tears. _Do not cry, _he ordered himself. _Do not cry. For what you are doing today, weakness is not an option! You can cry for her later, when you're killing-_

A loud _smash _snapped him out of his thoughts and he spun around, holding his shirt over his bare torso. Not that he was self-conscious, mind you; there was nothing there to be self-conscious about, really. It was just a reflex of sorts.

"Oh dear, it appears I have broken something," came a British voice from the far side of the room. Anti-Cosmo narrowed his eyes, but said nothing in response as the cubish child floated up to him. "Hello, Father."

:::

Short chapter, I know. I promise the next one will be longer.

~Mikichu


	22. The Tale of Creation

So, my poll says that most of you think that Jorgen will die next. Well, let's see!

:::

"Get rid of it, Wanda."

Wanda stood in the corner, shaking and clutching her stomach. "N- no! It's our child, Juandissimo!"

"Get rid of it."

"Juandissimo, please!" she begged, surprised she wasn't crying yet. "It's our-"

"I had no intention of impregnating you," he told her venomously. "I only wanted to-"

"To what?" Wanda asked. "To feel good? To use me? I was right when I was with Cosmo!" Her hand flew to her mouth seconds after she uttered the name; she knew that in saying it she had made a huge mistake.

"_What _did you say?" Juandissimo hissed, advancing on her and grabbing her wrist.

"I- I -I-"

"You said his name," the Hispanic half-fairy stated, slitting his eyes. "You said his name."

"I didn't mean to..."

"And not only did you say it," he continued, "you said that he was better for you. Better for you? Only if you wanted to get killed! The man sunk Atlantis nine times, mi amor! And you say he is better? Are you loco?"

"No! I mean yes! I- I don't know..." Wanda looked down, frightened to death. She loved Juandissimo, yes; she loved him with all her heart, but he was so irrational sometimes! He made her scared for her life.

_Cosmo never did that to you._

_Shut up, Cupid! Now's not the time._

_Would Cosmo tell you to get rid of your child?_

_If I were with Cosmo, there wouldn't be a baby. No more fairy babies, remember?_

_And what is the one you have now?_

_Some sort of fairy-anti-fairy crossbreed. Look, go away, okay?_

"Wanda, do not go back to Cosmo," Juandissimo requested, suddenly looking innocent and hurt._ "_I love you and do not want to lose you to him. Stay with me. Love me, pour favor."

"Juandissimo..."

He put a hand on her stomach, the warm, pleading look in his eyes suddenly being zapped away be a cold, threatening one. "And if you do go back to him..." he trailed, leaving the threat unfinished and letting Wanda's imagination run wild with all the things he could do to her. "Get rid of it," he finally said, then turned on his heel and strode out of the room.

:::

Their bickering had been going on for hours now.

"Can I go home now?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No!"

Timmy sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Can I at least see how Cosmo and Wanda are doing? They must be worried sick about Poof and me."

Jorgen tapped the end of his enormous wand on the floor of his house and a portal opened up. "Think of it as a T.V. screen," he explained.

Timmy sat down and watched it. On the "screen" was Cosmo, who was crying his eyes out and his mother, who was comforting him.

_"She hates me, Mama!"_

_"Everything will be okay, sweetheart."_

_"No! Not without her..."_

Timmy's eyes widened, as did Jorgen's. "That can't be good!" Timmy exclaimed, leaning forward in interest.

The scene flashed to where Wanda was as Jorgen tapped his wand on the ground again. Poof bounced up and down on his lap, worry lining the small boy's face as he saw his mother crying in a fetal position.

_"I don't want to give it up! I don't want to! It's my baby! No, it's ours! I know that... that he has a say in it too but I'm the one giving birth! I should decide!"_

"What?" Timmy stood up and faced Jorgen, who looked just as worried as Poof did. "But doesn't the male fairy give birth?"

"Juandissimo is half of a different species, Turner," came the response. "If another species is responsible for the impregnation... the female gives birth."

"Huh." Timmy looked back at the portal.

_"It's not fair. I don't care what he says, I'm having this baby!"_

Jorgen bit his lip. "This is not good. With Anti-Wanda dead..."

"Okay, Jorgen," Timmy said, "I remember you telling me some time that if an Anti-Fairy dies, their fairy dies, right?"

"Correct."

"So why is Wanda still alive?"

Jorgen sighed, closing the portal. "Sit down again, Turner. This might take a while to explain." Timmy nodded and obeyed as Jorgen continued, "With we immortals, death is not something that happens all of a sudden. Now that I think of it, you mortals don't have it that way either. Which leads me to my next point.

"As you may have figured out by now, fairies and their other immortal companions were created before the time of humans. Actually, humans exist _because_ of fairies and such. You see, Turner, when you are immortal, your world eventually gets overcrowded because many are born, but very few, if any, die. The only way we can die is through murder or suicide. When Fairy World, Anti-Fairy World, and all the other places got crowded, some of them volunteered to go to a separate place. But Anti-Vega- he was the leader of Anti-Fairy World before Anti-Cosmo came along and overthrew him-, HP, me, and everyone else knew that that world would also become overpopulated in time. And, it would be war-torn as well; you never want to leave fairies and Anti-Fairies alone in one place for a long time. The pixies don't really care. And gnomes will attack anyone they set their little eyes upon- Oops. Sidetracking.

"So the leaders of the world got together and decided that we would make a whole other race: one that could perish not when we or when others wanted them to, but when we decided it was their time. We called them humans because back then, we did not have fairy godchildren, and we used one sole language- Symmarriun- and the word _humen_ meant infected or near death. When we assigned fairies to godchildren, we did so because fairies are, generally speaking, nice creatures. Today's humans are the ancestors of our friends and family. We had to help you people out."

"Okay, Jorgen, just a second," Timmy requested, throwing his hands up in the air. "You guys made humans. Okay, that I get. So you decide when we die? And what does this have to do with Wanda?"

"I'm getting to that. Be patient. And no, Turner, we do not decide when your people die. We used to do so, but in order to make them die we had to create certain conditions in the body that allowed them to die. We wiped them of their magic, and memories of ever being an immortal being. We made their world, but only the soil and water and sky. The rest was you guys. We inflicted conditions upon you, but as you grew more advanced, it soon came to be that we were inflicting these things only because people would get suspicious if we did not; you ended up, ultimately, killing yourselves.

"Another meeting was held. We decided these inflictions were no longer to be carried by us, but by humans themselves. Every single thing that could go wrong with one's body is in you right now; you just need something to trigger it. That's where allergies come from, by the way.

"And this leads me to Wanda. As I said, death is not something that comes without some sort of trauma in your body. We based human deaths off of what happens to fairies and the others. Timothy, Wanda would not just turn to fairy dust randomly as soon as her counterpart died. She'd need to go through some sort of very stressful situation. Physically would work best, but stressful would work as well because her heart would be racing. Anyway, Wanda has to die through some sort of dangerous situation... such as giving birth."

:::

"And may I ask what you are doing here?" inquired the father to his son.

"I heard that Mother had passed on," Foop replied, playing with his mustache. "So unfortunate. You've moved on though, I trust?"

"Not in the slightest, Foop. I loved her."

Foop looked up at his father, looking almost bored. "Love is nothing but a chemical reaction in the brain, dear Father. Certainly someone of your intelligence would know that?"

"I do," came the quiet response, "but that does not mean it hurts any less."

Foop was silent for a moment. "Then again, I am young," he finally said. "Perhaps I do not understand this 'love'. Not that I ever want to. What's the point in loving if it causes pain, Father? Do tell me."

Anti-Cosmo's eyebrows raised a tad. "There is pain, Foop, but there is also joy. And no matter how great the pain is, if you are with the right person..." he paused, as if to add meaning to his words, "...it's all worth it in the end."

:::

His office was dark and small. A sliver of moonlight shone through the blue curtains on the window, but other than that, there was no sign of the outside world. It was deathly silent outside; the song of the phoenixes was abnormally silenced, and the occasional clop-clop of a nocturnal unicorn was also absent from the scene.

To Studwell, it seemed like the perfect scene for a horror movie.

No, wait. The door was slightly cracked open, creating another small crack of light on the floor. The two crossed and made a slanted 'X' shape. Hold on... was it getting bigger?

He looked down from the ceiling; he normally looked at it whenever he was thinking about something. Yes. It was getting bigger. The door was opening...

And now it was slammed shut.

He blinked, swallowing. He had known about Juandissimo for a long time, and yet he had lived. He didn't know why. He would have liked to say that it was because Juandissimo was ignorant to his knowledge, but he knew better than to do so. Juandissimo was sharp as a dagger- and just as deadly.

A low popping sound came from behind him, signaling the entrance of a magical being, but he didn't dare turn around to see who it was. He already knew.

"Hola, senor."

The last sound Dr. Rip Studwell ever made was a scream.

:::

Well then. I guess not.

~Mikichu


	23. Number Three

Name: Cassandra A. Truden

Date: Friday, August 13th.

Time: 8:30 PM

Form: Video

_"Um... hey. I'm Officer Cassandra Alison Truden of the DPD. That's "Dimmsdale Police Department", by the way. Not like you didn't know that. After all, my Captain is the only person who's going to see this anyway. Unless this ends up on TooYube or something. I don't know.  
_

_"So, yeah. This is part of an exercise that the Captain wants us to do so we can 'vent out our feelings' or something to that effect. I think it's because this case- the one with the Buxaplenty kid- has everyone freaked out, but they won't admit it. Something to do with pride, I guess. I'm a police officer, not a psychologist._

_"'Everyone' includes me. I'm probably the most high-strung about it. To be honest, I don't know who wouldn't be at least a little... I don't know the word, weirded out at this whole thing. I mean, this kid gets murdered in his bedroom in the middle of the night and it's staged to look like a suicide. Okay, that's normal. Normal, as in I've-seen-this-before-we'll-solve-it-in-under-forty-eight-hours normal. But then things get all freaky. No evidence except for one stupid print that doesn't even really look human. And the body disappears without a trace in one second- **one fucking second**- and then there are burn marks on the wall and a rookie having a mental breakdown._

_"This is the shit I have to deal with._

_"Seriously? This is likely gonna haunt me forever. I mean, there was that same print on Victoria Vilewhateverhernameis. And... hold on._

_"Here. See this picture? Burn marks, like the Buxaplenty kid. See what they say? 'Darkness turns against itself for reasons left untold; no allies remain forever'. Okay, what the fuck does that mean? Hey! Someone give me an answer here, I've freaking myself out with this mission imfuckingpossible bullshit!_

_"What kind of monster would do such a thing to these innocent kids? ...All right, according to her parents, Vicky wasn't too innocent, but still. Who would- oh. Phone. God, am I talking to a camera? No. My Captain. Oh it doesn't matter!_

_"Hello? ...I'm on my way."_

:::

Name: Richard J. Kane

Date: Friday, August 13th

Time: 8:32 PM

Form: Sound recording

_"Yeah. I don't own a camera. Sorry._

_"Anyway, hey there, hello, hola, bonjour, whatever. I'm Richard James Kane. I don't like my middle name, like eating tofu and playing table tennis. Oh, and I hate my partner._

_"I mean, Cassie's not all bad, but she jumps to conclusions and swears a lot. And she gets mad too easy. Not that this case isn't something to get mad over, mind you. That kid had a lot going for him._

_"It kinda sucks being a policeman, but there's not much I can do. I see stuff like this every day- well, not cases as weird as this, but you get the idea- and... it gets really depressing after a few homicides. I mean, really depressing. Like, it's-four-in-the-morning-and-I-can't-sleep-because-some-lady-got-her-head-bashed-in-with-a-portable-speaker-and-we-can't-find-the-killer. Seriously, that happened once. I don't think anyone on the force- that's what I call our police homicide team- got much sleep when we were on that one._

_"Sidetracking. But I guess that doesn't matter, since this is supposed to be where we just sort of ramble our thoughts. Or something. I wasn't really listening. I do that sometimes. I'm easily distracted. Eh heh. _

_"So, getting back on topic, this Remy kid... I don't know what really happened. I mean, where's his body? Who has it? Is the killer gonna strike again? Who knows? Well, I guess he knows. Unless he has Alzheimer's or something like that. Eek, that would be a strange interrogation. Hey, how are you? Fine. Did you kill them? Yes. Okay. You're under arrest. For what? For killing Remy Buxaplenty and Victoria Vileness. Who? What? Where am I? Who are you? Not the smoothest arrest in the world._

_"Man, I rant a lot. Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing? Who knows? Who cares? Gah. I'm confusing myself again. Hey, my phone's going off!_

_"Oh crap. It's the Captain. This can't be good."_

:::

Name: Sarah K. Penner

Date: Friday, October 13th

Time: 8:33 PM

Form: Video

_"Heyyy! I'm Sarah Kay Penner. I have blond hair and- wait. You can see that. This is a video._

_"Duh._

_"So, yeah. It was insane. Totally insane! I turned my back for one bloody second and he was gone! Poof! Like magic!_

_"One bloody second. I like that. It sounds so British! I love British accents! Don't you?_

_"Whoops. You can't answer. Yeah, Cassie was really mad at me when I started crying. She gets mad too often. She probably doesn't know what she's doing anyway._

_"...Says the ditziest girl in homicide. Oh well. I- Captain? Uh-oh._

_"Hold on, Mr. Camera. There's another dead kid."_

:::

Name: Chester B. McBadbat

Date: Thursday, October 12th

Time: 10:00 PM

Form: Video

_"Hey. I'm recording this for the police. Sorry I'm using your camera, Dad. I know I'm not supposed to, but deep down I cared about that Remy kid. I want to help them find who killed him._

_"So, hey police people. I'm Chester Bucky McBadbat. Just saying, I think you guys should listen, because this is super, super important. I hope this helps you catch that killer. That would be awesome!_

_"So... hey, where was I? Oh yeah._

_"My dad is Bucky McBadbat. He's the worst baseball player ever. Of all time. Because of him, I end up being the target of a bunch of stupid stunts-_

***BOOOOOOOM***

_"The mailbox! Not again! See? Like that. Since it isn't safe to be a McBadbat, I think the killer might be after me. I don't know. Watch my trailer. I think-_

_"Hey? Who are you? How do you float like tha- HEY! Get away! Help!_

_"G- gack! Help me! Someone! HELP!"_

_:::_

Short chapter, sorry.

~Mikichu


	24. A Genius's Take On Murder

Short chapter, long wait, I know I know. I apologize.

:::

Bucky McBadbat stood outside the trailer, his eyes wide in disbelief and sorrow. "It's all my fault," he murmured. "I did this."

"You killed him?" Truden asked, glancing up from her notepad. This insensitive remark earned her a warning glance from her partner.

"No!" Bucky exclaimed, tears soaking through his thin paper bag. "My son was everything to me! He was my world! Everything I did was for him. This here bag," he motioned to his head, "was even for him. I didn't want people to recognize me with him."

_Yes, because someone with a paper bag over their heads isn't a reason to tease them at all, _Truden thought, forcing down the urge to roll her eyes. "So... did your son have any enemies?" she asked, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible so she could see if the freaky print was on the McBadbat child too.

"He was bullied a lot in school even though I tried to make him fit in. They gave him this terrible nickname, too."

"And that would be...?" Kane asked.

"'Chester: The Worst Player On The Team'."

Kane covered his partner's mouth before she could utter some sort of scathing comment about the creativity and effort put into the nickname. "Would you happen to be able to specifically name anyone who bullied your son?"

Bucky thought for a moment, looking at his dirty feet. "There's a big gray kid there," he finally explained, "named Francis. He's the school bully. And his teacher, Mr. Crocker, picked on him." He paused. "Then again, he picked on everyone. Oh, and his friend was treating him like a sidekick one time. He hated it."

"Who might that be?"

"Timmy. Timmy Turner."

Truden gave him an are-you-fucking-kidding-me look. Without fail, every single murder always somehow went back to Timmy Turner. It was just too strange. And the kid had been missing for so long. He was likely in hiding because his guilty conscience was telling him to run. She recalled the writings on a paper she had discovered just outside Chester's trailer.

_Killing is not something that is always done with conscious desire or even recognition. There are some beings in this universe bent to their homicidal ways. Those unfortunate enough to be like this from the very beginning of things are not be blamed for their actions. Not to say, of course, that they should not be taken to jail or anything to that effect. I am saying that they should not be judged by being born to such things._

_When I say they are born to these things, I do not mean it by fate. I mean it by subconscious development, by parental teaching. Despite everything we have done to prevent this one single truth, it is blatantly clear: this world is kill-or-be-killed. No one can fix this; not the police, not Jorgen, not me, not anyone. _

_And then there are those who are, in youth, aware that killing is wrong. But once they kill, it seems to take total control of them. It is like a disease of the mind; it controls you, your every action, and leads to the slow and deliberate mental disintegration that has been haunting your worries for so long. And then... there is nothing left to do but run.  
_

_I must thank you for listening. It seems strange speaking to an inanimate object, but I shall do it nonetheless. Your pages absorb my words like no living being could._

_Evilly Yours,  
_

_Anti-Cosmo_

Truden sighed. This man who talked funny (Or at the very least wrote in a very fancy manner) obviously knew something about this case, or at least might have seen something. The only thing to do now was to find Anti-Cosmo... whoever that was.

:::

Cosmo was released that following day by a nurse named Syyra. When he inquired as to Studwell's whereabouts, the nurse quickly avoided the question and ushered him outside.

Where was Wanda? That was the only thing on his mind. He knew where Juandissimo lived; was she there? Probably. Juandissimo likely took her back to his house and...

He shuddered, ordering himself not to finish the thought. _Wanda's fine, _he assured himself. _She's safe, she's fine._

But he was right to worry.

:::

Chester McBadbat lay on the carpet, his arms sprawled to his sides as if about to give someone a hug. His eyes, once bright with youth, were now closed, their lids never lifting again. Expressionless was what she used to describe his look. Her second choice of words would have likely been serene, save for the violent abrasions on his neck.

Truden would have liked to believe that he was sleeping, but she knew it wasn't true. Even if she had never received the call informing her that he was dead, even if she had just seen him laying on his cot, she would have known. Her eye was trained to notice the absent rise and fall of his chest, the too-peaceful look on the boy's features. Her hand was trained to know the dim pulse of life thrumming beneath the skin of his wrist and she knew, even without checking, that it wasn't there.

She let out a long, low sigh and scanned the room with her sad eyes. She had found a video camera on the floor and had sent it with Dr. Terrence Lee to dust for fingerprints and the like (she had kept the tape that had been inside it at the request of her Captain), but she knew it was a lost cause. There wouldn't likely be any prints on it other than Chester's, and if any others were there to be found they would be like the freaky one on Vicky and Remy, if not exactly the same. It was obvious; everyone knew it, but they were still trying. Trying to see if this bastard would finally make a mistake, she supposed.

She knew as much as anyone that it would never happen. She was even beginning to doubt that this guy was even human. At the very least, he had to have superpowers or something of the sort. As she finished her visual tour of the room, she allowed her dark eyes to rest on a purple lamp. After staring at it for a while, she gasped and her eyelids snapped closed tightly. She rubbed her eyes and opened them, and took a deep breath to steady herself.

The eyes. The eyes were gone.

"Cass?" She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to face Kane. He had a worried look on his face. "Are you okay? You look really upset."

"I'm fine." She glanced uneasily at the lamp again and huffed, "Come on, let's get the hell away from here." _This place creeps me out, _she added silently. After evaluating her experience she decided she had had a long day. Tiredness, she concluded, did weird things to her.


	25. The Loss Of One

"So, Father, do tell me about this supposed half-brother of mine."

Anti-Cosmo scoffed. "What is there to say? He's a ruthless terror with the most twisted mind and cold heart of anyone I've ever met."

"Well!" Foop huffed. "I'm sure that this 'Juandissimo' does not top my coldness!" His expression suddenly changed. "Oh, but being cold is such a drag! Why bother?" It changed back again. "Oh, will you shut up? You shut up! You! No you! You! You! You!" He suddenly stopped and regarded his father's strange and rather questioning look. "I'm sorry. I do that sometimes."

"...Right." Anti-Cosmo glanced at a nearby portrait of him and his wife together and his pain suddenly resurfaced. "Look out, you stupid little half-breed. I'm coming for you, and when I do, things will get muy malo." He paused. "I do believe that is Spanish for something."

:::

"How many times do I have to tell you, you idiotic woman?"

"But-"

"There is none of that! You will not do what I say, and that angers me!"

"I-"

"Silence your pleas, you disgusting thing. I will not listen to you."

The classic pictures of abuse, as well as love, were drawn that day, but unfortunately the former was the dark painting that dominated it. She sat in the corner, in the position her unborn was forced to, her knees up to her mildly swollen belly and her head down. Her tormentor stood over her, looking down with an expression that suggested he thought her something to be spat upon. His large hands were clenched into fists by his sides in an attempt to control his rage.

"I have asked you to get rid of this child and you have not done so," Juandissimo stated, making Wanda raise her head to look at him. "Why is that?"

Afraid her answer might be one to provoke the beast, she kept her bloody lips shut tightly. When his eyes narrowed to the point where they were nearly slits, she opened her mouth to say something, but all that came from her was a slow, shuddering rush of air.

This made Juandissimo stamp his foot with such force a glass on a nearby table fell and shattered. "Answer the question!" The forcefulness of his words came not from the volume in his voice, but the lack of it. Somehow he sounded more ominous when he whispered.

"B- because... I love my child..."

"Idiocy!" Juandissimo shouted, his nails drawing blood from his palms. "It is inconceivable! How could you possibly love something that does not yet exist?"

"My child does exist, they just aren't born yet."

Juandissimo raised his hand to silence her and she quickly quieted, afraid his now open palm would double as a weapon. When it didn't and a deadly silence developed, he spoke, "Do not correct me. You know how angry it makes me, mi amor."

The sound of shattering glass broke the long quietness, making the two of them glance at the large window about ten feet from them. The sound reminded Wanda of when she was a teenager.

_The emerald fairy, realizing he had no other choice, magically raised a brick and threw it through the window. He flew quickly through the pane, earning himself a cut on his left wing from the remaining glass, but he didn't care. All he wanted to know was that Wanda was okay._

Shards of glass flew everywhere, cutting their faces lightly. Wanda couldn't help but groan inwardly as she saw her husband hovering there, a defiant look on his face. Just great! This was the last thing she needed: Cosmo there, messing everything up.

_"Stop hurting my Wanda!"_

"Keep your hands off of her!"

_Juandissimo's eyes narrowed and a small, evil grin appeared on his face. "Oh? And are you going to stop me?"_

The half-fairy chuckled a bit. "Ooh, big strong Cosmo is going to fight me for Wanda's love?"

_"Yeah!" Cosmo shouted._

"That's right!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth.

Wanda put her head on her knees again, letting out a small sigh.

_"Cosmo, go! Run! He's way too strong for you!"_

In a sharp contrast to what she said when she was seventeen, Wanda told her husband, "Cosmo, stop it! I don't need you to save me!"

_Cosmo looked at her..._

He stared at her...

_In his eyes were only love._

In his eyes were only hurt.

_Juandissimo took advantage of the distraction and grabbed Cosmo by the shirt, throwing him against a painting of Wanda he had and Cosmo fell on the ground. Shards of glass entered his back and already broken wings; one of them pierced his fagigally gland, which, unknown to them at the time, would later fail because of this injury.  
_

Seeing Cosmo's attention was diverted, Juandissimo slapped him in the temple with a cupped palm, causing the fairy to fly sideways into the wall. A painting of a certain pink fairy, done many years ago, fell on his head. Slowly, he lifted it and winced at the pain in his shoulder where he had been struck.

_"Cosmo!" Wanda wailed, standing up and trying to make her way to him._

Wanda did not move or even say his name. She no longer loved him; in fact, she didn't even like him anymore. She didn't care whether he lived or died.

_He blocked her path, hitting her forehead and making her fall back to the floor. Crying, she realized she was lucky; she narrowly missed a large, rather deadly-looking piece of glass laying there, waiting to claim someone._

He turned around, expecting Wanda to rush to her husband's aid, but she did not. Surprised, he regarded her with a questioning purple glare. "Is this not the part where you run to him?"

"No," Wanda answered, crossing her arms. "No, it's not."

_While Juandissimo was distracted with making sure Wanda stayed out of the picture, Cosmo jumped up and grabbed him from behind around the torso. This act of bravery with a little bit of idiocy mixed in there earned him an elbow in the jaw. He felt a tooth chip inside of him and he winced. Juandissimo wrapped his arm around Cosmo's neck, jumping behind him, and asked, "Do not even try to overcome me!_

Seeing that Juandissimo was now confused, Cosmo raced over and grabbed Juandissimo's ponytail and yanked it as hard as he could. Juandissimo, having been unprepared for the attack, momentarily lost his balance and glared at his rival. With almost impossible speed, he regained his composture and grabbed Cosmo by the throat. "You dare try to defeat me? You dare challenge my athourity?"

"Yeah! I do!"

_"I'll try winning anyway! I don't care! All I care about is Wanda and what you're doing to her!"_

"You know why? Because I actually love Wanda and would never hurt her like you are!"

_"She's the love of my life! And I won't let you do this to her!"_

"She's my soulmate! I can't bear to see her get hurt!"

_"I will do whatever it takes to get rid of you!"_

"It doesn't matter what I have to do; I'll do just as long as you leave her alone!"

_"So let go of me right now..."_

"So take your hands off me..."

_"...And stay away from my girlfriend!"_

"...And _**STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE**!"_

Wanda felt something stir deep inside her, but she didn't know what. Cupid's voice rang inside her head. _Look at this, isn't it lovely?_

_Do you think I'm a sadist?_

_No! I mean in your blood._

_My... blood?_

_Yeah! The serum that made you fall in love with Juandissimo is only in the first stage- which, might I add, is the only stage that's reversible._

_So what's happening to me?_

_Juandissimo's serum is only covering Cosmo's. And look! When someone is put through traumatic events involving love- mostly two of the opposite sex fighting over them, you know?- the serum, if soft enough, dissolves. And you know what? First stage serum is the only soluble serum! You're going to love Cosmo again! YAY!_

_I refuse to!_

_Are you kidding? Look what he's doing for you, and try to honestly tell me you have no feelings for him at all!_

She looked at the two fighters. Cosmo was bleeding intensely, but thanks to fairies having the ability to heal quickly, his wounds weren't worsening. This frustrated Juandissimo to the point where, in his blind fury, he made a mistake by taking the time to shout at Cosmo without attacking. Cosmo grabbed his wand from the belt loop on his black pants and blasted his rival between the eyes with a jet of pine-green light. Juandissimo screamed and covered his face, staring mutinously at Cosmo though his fingertips. He wasn't lucky enough to have inheritied the trait of healing quickly.

"I will be back for you!" Juandissimo bellowed to the both of them, muttered something about regretting and Studwell, and disappeared in a flash of violet smoke.

Cosmo didn't lavish in his victory, he only ran over to Wanda (his legs, having only sustained minor bruises early in the fight, were okay now). "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. He wanted so badly to run his fingers through her hair, to wrap his arms around her and tell it was okay, but he was afraid to touch her for fear she might snap at him again.

The last of Juandissimo's serum fell away and Wanda's eyes filled with tears as she threw her arms around his neck. Burying her head in his shoulder, she sobbed uncontrollably. "Cosmo! Cosmo, I'm so sorry! I never meant to fall in love with him, I swear! He did it! Cosmo!"

Cosmo, shocked but nonetheless overjoyed at her sudden change in additude towards him, stroked her back and inhaled deeply. Her hair smelled like strawberries. "It's okay, snookie. I know you didn't do anything on purpose. It's his fault, not yours. Shh. Shh."

In silence, they just sat there for a while before Cosmo noticed that his legs were feeling abnormally warm- warm and damp. "Wanda?" he asked, his voice high (higher than normal, at least) with fear.

"Mmm?"

"There... there's adrius..."

"You got hurt a lot," Wanda replied, not looking to see what he was talking about.

"I... I think it's yours."

She looked down and gasped. There was a small pool of silver surrounding them. She and her husband locked eyes, the same word running through their minds: _miscarriage._

_Yesss! You two are together again!_

_Thank you, Cupid._

_Anytime, Wanda. Anytime. But there's still one issue..._

_What?_

_What about your child?_

_But... you know what happened! It's dead!_

_Only one of them is._

_What are you saying?_

_I'm sure you can figure it out, Wanda._


	26. Inhuman

Truden, Kane, Penner and Harrow all sat in the small room, staring at the TV screen. Chester's tape was being played over and over, due to Penner's love of abusing the replay button, and by now Truden could recite it by complete memory.

They were at the point where the mailbox exploded, and Truden was keeping her eye on the purple lamp in the background. The the camera shifted to see the remains of the mailbox and when the lamp went out of the frame, she kept her eyes in the spot where it used to be. The camera then went back to its original position, and Truden stood up and started shouting, "Look! Look! Penner, rewind to before the mailbox and _pause it!_"

The blond rookie obeyed, and the others stared questioningly at Cassandra. "What's wrong?" Kane asked.

"Watch the lamp, you morons, _watch the fucking lamp_!" Truden growled, pointing to the screen as she stepped beside it. "Look. It's there now... and after the mailbox explodes... it's gone. And look how it lights up before the mailbox goes ka-boom!"

"Power glitch?" the Captain suggested, raising his hand.

"It can't be," Truden muttered more to herself than anyone.

"Maybe someone made the mailbox explode, took the lamp, and killed the kid," Kane offered.

Truden shook her head. "It happened too fast. And besides, the autopsy didn't show any signs of cranial trauma. The idea of him being killed with a lamp is as good as trumped."

The investigators looked down in thought, each one of them stumped. A strange silence developed before Kane piped up, "He said that someone- most likely the killer- was floating."

The Captain nodded. "How could that have been possible?"

"Jet-packs?" Penner asked. When everyone looked at her stupidly, she looked down. "I'll shut up now."

"You do that," Truden ordered. "A jet pack's noise would have been picked up by the camera's microphone, and there weren't even any burn marks anywhere."

The Captain's left eyebrow lifted. "Not even on the walls?"

"No... not yet, anyway," Kane responded.

Penner, bored by the conversation, pressed the replay button. Right after the explosion, the Captain heard a subtle popping sound, followed by Chester's inquiry about floating and his screams of terror. Jumping up, he shouted, "Penner, replay that part! Everyone else, listen closely!"

They obeyed, and Truden narrowed her eyes. "What the hell was that pop?" she asked, crossing her arms. "God, this bastard is sick!"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Kane saluted, earning himself a hateful glare from his raven-haired partner. He looked down, following the blond rookie's example as Truden sighed.

"Captain... I'm starting to think our killer isn't that Timmy kid."

"And why would you say that?"

"This monster can't be human."

:::

_In these pages I inscribe the words to come last before the two deaths that are to follow. The first, a death for revenge; the second, a death for relief._

_Foop has long left to explore his homeworld, and I am, once again and for the last time, left alone. Upon the hand this quill is held in are two rings, in a contrast to the single ring on my left. Though the quantity differs, they celebrate the same thing: my love, her love, our love._

_When finishing this first death I shall toss this page into the flames that consume the second life (before allowing this to happen, the spirits within me will be released so they do not perish as well) so that my wife may read the words I have written to her. They shall appear in smoke, which is what paper is to us living beings. In dark places in the smoke she shall find my words, my heart, my soul (if I do indeed have one for her to see). _

_Anti-Wanda, look upon this chain of events not as an unfortunate end, but a new beginning for us. We shall rise above the others, even in untimely death, for there are very few who ever dared to challenge us when we lived. Those few ended up dead, like my half-breed son._

_Before laying eyes on you, I had thought love to be something foolish and illogical... but you, my beloved, convinced me otherwise. Never before had I seen something so flawless, so divine. I had not known that something so bent to darkness as an Anti-Fairy could ever be so angelic. Strange how a mere glance can change one's mind entirely, would you not agree? _

_Within moments of you reading these words, we will be together again._

_Eternally Yours,_

_Anti-Cosmo_

:::

"When do you think Wanda's due?" Timmy asked as he entered the hospital again with Jorgen.

Jorgen shrugged. "I have no idea, Turner. Poof was a premature birth. A normal fairy birth takes around five months."

"It's been two now."

"Yes. Yes, it has." Jorgen sounded calm, but he was really starting to panic. Anti-Cosmo had told him he was planning on killing Juandissimo; he had also mentioned a second death, but he hadn't elaborated on it for some reason. He looked up at the ceiling in thought, letting a small, almost pitiful sigh escape him. Nobody had done anything to deserve what was happening to them and what was to come (except, of course, Juandissimo; he deserved everything he got!). Wanda never deserved to die, and Cosmo didn't deserve to lose the love of his life. Aside from Mama Cosma, Jorgen was Cosmo's closest relative (despite being a very, very distant cousin), and Jorgen knew he would have to deal with the weeping emerald fairy when Wanda gave birth.

It was something he wasn't really willing to do.

"Jorgen," Timmy said suddenly after a long silence developed, "I don't want Wanda to die. All she's done is fight, more for others than herself, and what does she get?"

"Death," the two of them said simultaneously.

:::

This chapter is really short because the next one will be very, very lengthy, mostly because it's another flashback chapter.

~Mikichu


	27. Rememberance

_"Is your mother asleep, son?"_

_Anti-Cosmo lifted his eyes and blinked at the sudden light flooding his room. "Yes, Father. She's been snoring for a while now. She stopped just before you came in."_

_"I wonder why that is? Perhaps she's awake now."_

_The seven-year-old Anti-Fairy shrugged, putting on his glasses and hopping out of bed. "Would you like me to check?"_

_Anti-Derrakei considered it for a moment, then nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. You go do that."_

_The young boy obeyed, slipping quietly into Anti-Celice's room. After a few seconds, he tip-toed out and reported, "Yes, Father, she is still asleep. Why do you ask?"_

_"There's something we need to do."_

_Anti-Cosmo cocked his head to one side, looking very interested. "And what's that?"_

_"Hold on." His father poofed up a camera and stepped into Anti-Cosmo's room. "This is a very special thing for you, son."_

_"Hm?"_

_"This is a ritual that helps you on your way to manhood, both physically and psychologically," the man explained, turning on the camera. "They start out small, then intensify later on. Stand against that wall and unbutton your nightshirt."_

_His son's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "How exactly is this helping me?"_

_"You'll thank me when you're a man," Anti-Derrakei said evasively. "Now do it."_

_After a moment's hesitation, the gullible child did as he was told. "Like this?"_

_The camera clicked as a photo was taken. "Yes, just like that. Look sad."_

_Again, he obeyed. Two more clicks were heard. "Did you do this with my brother? Can I tell him I started?"_

_"No!" his father shouted, a little too much volume in his voice. Anti-Cosmo looked shocked, and Anti-Derrakei explained, "You must not desecrate the sacredness of this ritual by speaking of it. I'm sure you understand." The boy nodded. "Good, good. Now turn sideways."_

_Click, click. "That's nice, son." Click. "Very nice." Click, click, click. "You're a natural."  
_

:::

_Mama Cosma looked over her shoulder as the door closed silently. Her son was either very calm or very sad, and, being his mother, she needed to find out. Hoping it wasn't the latter, she stepped over to him and cocked her head to one side. "Is something wrong?"_

_Cosmo looked up at her, grinned, and shook his head. "No way! Everything's great! Perfect!" He paused. "...As long as you say yes."_

_Mama Cosma's gaze was very soft now. "Say yes? That's a guarantee. What is it?"_

_"Mama..." Cosmo looked shy as he pulled out a little black box and opened it. Inside was a flashy diamond ring. Before he could say what it was for, his mother shouted:_

_"WHERE did you get the money for that?"_

_Cosmo looked down as if ashamed. "I- I did some work f- for J- Jorgen and he paid me to get out. I was only trying to make Atlantis cleaner!" he wailed._

_"And what is it for?"_

_"Mama... can- can I marry Wanda?"_

_His mother yelped and knocked the box from his hand. The ring fell and clattered on to a vent, and fell in. Cosmo turned white as the eggshell-coloured wall behind him and bit his lower lip. "Is that a 'no'?" he asked innocently, looking at the space where his ring- no, **Wanda's **ring- had fallen._

_"Listen closely," his mother growled, "You are mine, and no one else's. NO ONE shall have the joy of being by your side but me. Do I make myself clear?"_

_"Yes, Mama."_

_"Say it louder."_

_"YES, MAMA!" Cosmo shouted, his voice cracking because of the lump in his throat. "Yes! I understand! I understand, Mama!" **I understand, but it's not fair! I love her. I wanna marry her. **Why couldn't he say the words? Probably because he knew his mom would yell at him again..._

_"Good," his mother smiled, oblivious to his thoughts. "Now, who wants to make cookies?"_

_:::_

_"Dude." Anti-Ivy leaned against her black locker with her arms crossed, giving her buck-toothed friend a questioning glare. "Dude, dude, dude. What are you scared of? The guy kissed your hand and looked at you real sweetly. What are you scared of?"_

_Anti-Wanda shrugged. "M- Maybe he was just bein' polite, ya know. Lookit how he sits," she said, motioning with her head to the one she admired sitting at a piano inside a nearby classroom. She sighed, fogging the window, then quickly wiped it away._

_"What does how the dude sits have to do with him being polite?" Anti-Ivy inquired, one of her penciled eyebrows lifting. "How could you possibly make some sort of connection?"_

_"The guy sits like he was born wit' a pole fer a spine. Plusses, he plays the pianer. He must be super-so... so... whassa word?"_

_"Sophisticated?"_

_"Yeah! So maybies he was taught ta be polite and stuff?"_

_Her friend blinked. "You notice the weirdest things about people. It's really funny how you can judge how some dude was raised by the way they sit, yet you can't do basic math."_

_"I kin do maths!" Anti-Wanda protested._

_"Oh? Fine. What's six plus three?"_

_"Sixty-three! So there!"  
_

_"...Yeah, let's go with that." They were silent for a while, and Anti-Cosmo, not aware they were standing within earshot of his playing, started singing._

**_"Fear not the flame of my love's candle,_**

**_"Let it be the sun in your world of darkness._**

**_"Give unto me all that frightens you,_**

**_"I'll have your nightmares for you,_**

**_"If you sleep soundly._**

**_"Give unto me your troubles._**

**_"I'll endure your suffering ._**

**_"Place onto me your burden, _**

**_"I'll drink your deadly poison."_**

_"He sounds like a girl," Anti-Ivy observed._

_"Yeah, but he sounds good."_

_"Mmm, not really."_

_"Well, I likes it."_

_"Then go tell him."_

_Anti-Wanda glanced nervously at the half-open door. "Ya thinks I can?"_

_"Go ahead!" her friend encouraged her. "Stop your worrying! He'll say yes if you ask him out for sure."_

_"Ehh... I bet not."_

_Anti-Ivy sighed, rolled her eyes and flung open the door. "Go. In. Right. Now."_

_"Shhh!" Anti-Wanda frantically put her finger to her lips. "He'll hear us!"_

_Anti-Ivy smirked one of her classic "I've-got-you-now" smirks. "Go in and talk to him or I'm yelling asking him to go out with you."_

_"Nuuu!" Anti-Wanda covered her mouth with her hands. "Fine! Fine, I'll talk. Sheesh."_

_She walked in. The floor was made of black tile and the walls were a smoky gray, dimly reminding her of the colour of the suit a pixie was wearing in a textbook picture she had seen earlier. The bench Anti-Cosmo sat on was quite long- easily fitting three people on it- and she sat down beside him, watching his fingers. **Sheeee-wow. I could neva do that.**_

_"Hello," he greeted her softly, glancing up from his music. "And how are you this fine day?"_

_"Um..." she looked at Anti-Ivy, who gave her a thumbs-up, and said, "I- I's fine, I guess. What abou' you?"_

_He seemed to be thinking. "I'm doing well. What brings you here?"_

_"I heard the music," she told him, still staring at his fingers. "You play good."_

_After debating with himself over to correct her grammar or not to do so, he finally decided against it, and thanked her. "You're a nice girl, Anti-Wanda."_

_"Aww... thanks."_

_"I mean it. I don't say that a lot."_

_"I bet not." _

_They were quiet for a while, and Anti-Cosmo finished the song he was playing and stood. "We had best be off to our classes... free period is almost finished." He absently cracked his knuckles, making Anti-Ivy visibly wince, and asked, "So... would you like to meet up sometime later? Possibly to show me around? After all, I don't know this place very well."_

_"Ah- ah... s- sure!" Anti-Wanda gulped, trying her hardest to make her face cool down._

_"My, my, this light is quite tricky, isn't it?" he grinned, winking at her (much to both of their surprise). "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were blushing."_

_:::_

_Cosmo chewed absently on a pen cap, worrying about what was to come. He had told Wanda the day before that he had something important to show her that day, thinking his mom would say yes and that he could propose. Proposing was still something he was going to do, but he wasn't sure how; he didn't have any money left, he didn't want to put it off for fear Juandissimo would find out before he asked her to marry him and they ran off together, and he knew he couldn't propose without a ring._

_"...Therefore, the square root is 3.75." His teacher turned to him. "Isn't that right, Cosmo?"_

_Cosmo jumped and nodded. "Oh yeah! That's right."_

_"Explain what I did."_

_The emerald fairy looked at the board. Mathematical equations were written there, but they seemed like just a bunch of nonsensical squiggles. "I... don't know."_

_A few giggles were heard as the teacher sighed. "All right. Let's go over this again..."_

_Wanda elbowed him. "Hey there, Mr. Day-dreamy, what's with you?" When he didn't respond, she looked at the pen cap he was chewing. "Hey, that's kind of cool. It almost looks like a ring."_

_:::_

_"This here's the gym," Anti-Wanda told him, motioning to the large room. It was complete with a rock-climbing wall, eight basketball nets and many lines of different colours crisscrossing across the hardwood floor. "That's mah favorite place ta be."_

_"I differ from that," grimaced Anti-Cosmo. "I never understood the concept of it. Throwing around rubber balls at each other for an hour does nothing for our education."_

_"But it's fun."_

_"For some, perhaps," he shrugged. "Not me." He glanced at another huge room across the hall; it was a library. "Now, **there's **something I would be interested in..."_

_She followed his gaze and lifted an eyebrow. "What'cha want with a bunch o' dusty old books?"_

_"I like reading," he evil genius replied, a hint of a defensive whine in his voice. "It provides education and escape, unlike physical activity, which does absolutely nothing to stimulate the mind."_

_"...Okay."_

_A sigh came from him. "You have no idea what I just said, do you?"_

_"Nope." Anti-Wanda grinned. "I's stupid, and proud of it!"_

_Anti-Cosmo cocked his head to one side and studied her intently. "You intrigue me, Anti-Wanda."_

_"Wha?"_

_"You interest me."_

_Well, well, here was a surprise. Once again, Anti-Cosmo had managed to make her blush. "You- you mean you's is interested in me?"_

_"That..." he paused. "I suppose that is exactly what I am saying. Yes, I am interested in you."_

_"Oh!" She looked away, cursing her purple face. "W- well I... I likes you too."_

_"Good." He glanced at the library again, making a mental note to visit there the next day at free period. "Well, I had best be home before my mother starts worrying..." he blinked. "Well, I suppose that won't be happening. She doesn't really care. But, either way, I had best be getting home." Gazing at her a moment longer, he added silently so only he himself could hear, "Stay beautiful, my love."  
_


	28. Scared Of Your Mother

Cassandra Truden flicked her dark hair out of her face and let out a sigh. This killer could not be human in any way. It was completely unexplainable how that lamp acted without some sort of magical force being involved. Truden had never previously believed in anything like paranormal forces, but the evidence presented to her was just too overwhelming. Magic was real.

Magic was here.

A popping sound came from behind her, but she either disregarded it or didn't hear because she was too deep in her thoughts. Whatever the reason, thought Juandissimo, it didn't matter; the woman would be dead soon anyhow, and the Father would have another soul.

Truden grabbed the blanket behind her, curling up in a ball in the corner of her couch. She was about to close her eyes and sleep, which would have been appropriate since it was three in the morning, but she saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her snap to full alertness.

Her pillow. Her pillow had just turned from black to purple.

Shaking her head, she shut her eyes for a few seconds. No, this couldn't, this _wouldn't _be what she just saw!

Her eyes hesitantly fluttered open, and there lay a black silk pillow. She moaned. _Cassie, Cassie, you have to loosen up! Get some sleep! This case is getting to you. I know that a case has gotten in your head before, but never like this! Never like this! Let it go, let Kane handle it. You're going crazy, Cassie._

_Oh, contrare, _a deep, somewhat sexy voice entered her mind. _You are not going loco. You are just being committed to your job._

_But I just thought I saw that pillow turn purple, _Truden argued._ I'm getting paranoid._

_How so? _rumbled the second voice.

_I'm afraid the magician that killed Remy, Vicky and Bucky's kid will kill me too._

The voice was quiet. The silence came not from choice, but from shock at the sheer volume of the officer's scream. "Stay still!" he ordered her as he tied a cloth around her mouth. "Struggling will only intensify your agony."

Deciding to ignore the dark-skinned creature's warning, she screamed and writhed a little more. From behind her gag, Juandissimo could make out words like "star", "knife", "children", "pain", "cold", and "fucker". "Language, my sweet," he growled. "Cussing is muy malo."

Another long string of screechy swears were heard from the policewoman until Juandissimo took out his wand and put it to her throat. She then grew quiet, her dark eyes holding a satisfying fear. A whine came from her, and Juandissimo burned her, etching black symbols of violence in her flesh as she wailed.

_I move from the walls of a home to the walls of a life. I am coming for you, my love._

He lifted her up and shook her, making sure she was dead before dropping her. As she fell, her hand brushed against a purple lava lamp she had recieved from a teacher who, for some strange reason, wanted to get rid of it and get rid of it _**fast**_.

Purple and black smoke erupted from it and from it emerged none other than Norm the Genie. He lowered his sunglasses, squinted his eyes and regarded Juandissimo closely with his strikingly lavender eyes. After a few minutes of strange silence, he grinned and pointed to Juandissimo with both hands in a fashion that, had the half-fairy known the boy, would have reminded him of Imaginary Gary. "He-hey! I remember you! You're that guy from Fairy Idol who's too sexy for his sexy- who, by the way, I _beat_. How ya doing?" He stuck out his fist. When it evoked no response, he explained, "Hey, what's your problem? Touch your fist with mine."

"Why would I do that?"

Norm put his hands on his hips. "Oh, I don't know, maybe just to greet someone. Listen, you are the one who rubbed my lamp and brought me out here."

"Wrong."

"Yeah? Well, then who is my master, huh, smarite? Not so smart now, huh? Ah-hahaha!"

Juandissimo motioned to the dead officer on the floor. Norm looked down at it and blinked. "Oh. Hey-ya, that means I'm free! She can't wish, and therefore can't make the third wish to put me back in that stupid lamp! Hahahahahaha! Hahaha- this is my evil laugh, by the way. I've been working on it for a while. What do ya think?- hahahahhaha!"

"It needs more work," Juandissimo told the genie, and with that, he stabbed him.

:::

_Dear Wanda,_

_This letter will be kept brief, for I know you have much to do. I know that your love for me has fallen away, but you see, the opposite is not true. I will always love you; you know that, do you not?_

_Only the most powerful of beings could ever manage to kill a genie. Do you remember Norm, my love? I am sure that you do. You need not deal with him any longer. He is now "at peace", as some might say. Pushing up daisies. On a permanent vacation. Whatever you like to say._

_I shall see you soon, my darling._

_Lovingly Yours,_

_Juandissimo Magnifico_

:::

_"We-e-ell?" Anti-Ivy prodded, her face inches from her friend's. "What did he say?"_

_Anti-Wanda looked down, as if ashamed, and put her hands behind her back. "I... um..." Sitting down on the couch in her living room, she looked up at her best friend. "I- I'm sorry..."_

_Anti-Ivy sighed. "You didn't ask him, did you?"_

_"No."_

_The fed-up Anti-Fairy crossed her arms. "If you don't ask him tomorrow, I'll ask him myself."_

_Anti-Wanda looked shocked. "You wouldn't."_

_"I would. You know how much I like smart guys."_

_Anti-Wanda jumped off of the couch and grabbed her friend by the shoulders. "No! No! Please don't! I love him! You can't do that! It's against the Girl Code or whateva it's called!"_

_Anti-Ivy picked up the beaten-up phone and tossed her friend a phone-book. "Look him up and phone. Him. Right. Now. No excuses, Anti-Wanda. And put it on speaker, so I can hear."_

_She nodded quickly, looking up the name "Cosma". After some vigorous searching, she finally found his number and dialed quickly, unsure of if she wanted him to pick up or not._

_"Hello?" It was a woman's voice; it sounded gruff, worn away by years of yelling, drinking and smoking. "Who is this?"_

_"Is- is Anti-Cosmo there?" she asked. Something about his mom- or, at least, that's who she assumed this woman was- made her a little scared to keep talking to her. Anti-Ivy just looked confused; how could someone so sophisticated grow up with a mother like that?_

_"Mmm." There was a pause, and then some voices. "Anti-Cosmo! Hey! Hey! Get yer head outta that book and come 'ere! Someone's callin' to talk to yer."_

_"Who is it, mother?"_

_"Who are yer, punk?"_

_Oh yes. Anti-Wanda was definitely scared of this woman. "I's Anti-Wanda."_

_Another pause, and then the woman shouting. "Hey! It's some girl named 'Anti-Wanda'. You know her?"_

_"I do."_

_"She wants to talk to yer. Her grammar ain't no good, kiddo, I tell yer." Anti-Wanda felt a little bad at the woman's remark._

_"Yes, mother, because yours is so wonderful." A loud crack was heard, and his mother was shouting at him, telling him "not to talk back or he'd end up like his father". Whatever that meant, Anti-Wanda didn't know._

_"Ouch! All right, all right, I won't talk back to you... Ugh..." A rattle was heard and Anti-Cosmo's voice was louder now; he must have been holding the phone now. "Greetings, Anti-Wanda! Dreadfully sorry about what you had to hear there... my mother has a bit of a temper. I'm sure you realized that when she threw the phone at me just now." Well, that explained the rattling. "What would you like?"_

_"I..." she glanced at her friend, who lifted her eyebrows. "I wanna be your girlfriend."_

_Anti-Ivy face-palmed. "What?" Anti-Wanda asked quietly as she awaited the man's response._

_"You're supposed to be a little more... I don't know, how about **NOT OBVIOUS**."_

_"...Oh."_

_"You want to date me?" came the reply._

_"Yes."_

_There was a pause. "When are you free?"_

_The girls squealed and high-fived each other. "I don't have nothin' on really any time," she told him. "What abou' you?"_

_"I have private piano lessons on Mondays, but I suppose that would be about it." Anti-Wanda liked the way he rolled his 'r's; it seemed kind of sexy to her. "Well, today is Friday... isn't it?" There was a pause. "Yes. Yes it is. What about tonight?"_

_The pink-eyed Anti-Fairy almost dropped the phone. "T- tonight?"_

_"If you have something conflicting with it-"_

_"No! No!" she assured him. "No, I don't have nothin' on, it's just... I didn't even think you'd say yes."_

_"You're not supposed to tell him that," Anti-Ivy sniffed._

_"Anti-Ivy! Shu' up! Whaddaya wanna do?"_

_"Whatever suits your fancy. We could see a movie, go dancing, have dinner somewhere... there is a nice little place nearby my home."_

_Anti-Wanda looked at her friend for advice. "Go for the food, chick," came the quiet reply. "Movies don't give you lots of time to socialize."_

_"What abou' dancin'?"_

_"He probably does ballroom stuff. Bor-ingggg."_

_"...Okay." She turned her attention back to the phone. "We could go for supper somewheres if that's okay wit' you."_

_A somewhat evil-sounding chuckle came from the other end. "I suggested it, didn't I? All right, should we meet somewhere?"_

_"I kin go ta your house... just as long as your mummy don't answer the door." She shuddered._

_"Ah... you're right to be afraid of her. I could meet you outside, if you prefer."_

_Anti-Ivy glanced at her friend. "You know where he lives?"_

_"His address is in the book, ain't it?" As if to prove her right-ness, she held the book up to Anti-Ivy's face. "I'll be there at six!" she shouted excitedly, then hung up the phone.  
_


	29. Let It Happen

Trees whispered, branch to branch, above the lifeless forest floor. Two dark figures walked, one alive, one possessed, across the dark ground, wet with the dew of the coming dawn. Above them, the sky yawned, starless and cold. Mist clung to the the bark of the trees, giving them a pale, mysterious hue. The moon cast no light upon the creatures as they stalked across the scene, swirling in with the cold clouds.

A third shape entered the gloom, looking like a dark ghost against the fog. "Juandissimo," he murmured, gazing upon the woman beside the violet-eyed half-breed. "Greetings."

"Hola, Father." Juandissimo prodded Truden's side, taking his mind from hers and making her fall into a heap on the ground. "Freshly killed. Her essence is fresh."

"I care not for her essence," came the angry reply. His shocking green eyes burned through the darkness with a fire unmatched by any other. "I care only for yours."

"What?" Juandissimo crossed his muscular arms. "Father, please explain."

No words were said by either of them as Anti-Cosmo drew out his wand and pointed it at Juandissimo's heart. "Farewell, my treasure."

He had no time to scream before a purple jet of light shot from the evil genius's weapon. Juandissimo shut his eyes, looking to be in terrible pain, and fell to the ground beside his kill. As he knelt down beside his half-fairy son, Anti-Cosmo felt a small pang of remorse for having killed his own blood, but it soon vanished as the essence flowed into him, making him stronger. Satisfied, Anti-Cosmo lowered the wand and put it back in the pocket of his black suede jacket.

"Good shot, son."

Anti-Cosmo spun around and narrowed his eyes at the solidified spirit behind him. "Oh, hello, _Daddy dearest. _How's the little molester today?"

"I prefer the term 'child lover'."

Anti-Cosmo made a disgusted sound. "You are such-"

He was cut off as Anti-Derrakei grabbed his jacket and tore it off, exposing his son's sky-blue shirt beneath. Buttons flew in all different directions. "Less talkie. More lovey."

"Get off of me!" the evil genius shrieked, pushing his attacker away. "I will never let you hurt me agai-"

Again, he was cut off. His father grabbed his shirt and forced it up over his head before his son could even protest. "I never lost my love for you, my son," he murmured in his ear. "Never."

"Love and lust are different things," came the scathing reply as his father was, once again pushed away.

Anti-Derrakei slammed his son against a tree and pinned him there, leaving a few sratches on Anti-Cosmo's back and his fabricated wings. "You have abs." He made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. "That's hot. Your wife was a lucky woman..." He slipped his hand down the side of Anti-Cosmo's dress pants. "...And I'm a lucky man."

The young Anti-Fairy writhed under his attacker's grip, unable to defend himself against the violation. Even with every soul he had, he could not overcome his father. "_GET OFF ME!"_ The scream, in contrast to the first one, had more fear in it than anger. "Get off! Get off! I hate you! Leave me alone..." His voice cracked and he held in a sob. _No, Anti-Cosmo. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't let him see how weak you are._

"Do stop squirming. It would make this a lot easier."

"Then I'll keep moving."

This remark earned him an elbow in the jaw. "You shut your mouth, you little rodent." His voice then became softer. "We missed out on the final ritual."

"Rituals!" Anti-Cosmo exclaimed as his father fiddled with the waistband of his boxers. "They were never real! They never existed!"

"Sure they did."

"They did not!"

"Hush," he soothed, squeezing his victim. "Hush. It's okay."

"Father, stop..."

"Let it happen, son. Let it happen."

:::

"Okay, so let me get this straight." Timmy stood beside Wanda, Poof, Jorgen and Cosmo, who were all huddled in a small room with the nurse Karranda. "So, you were pregnant with twins, and one died, but you're still giving birth?"

"Yes."

Jorgen bit his lower lip and sighed. "This is not good."

Wanda looked down. Jorgen had earlier told them about how, since Anti-Wanda was dead, Wanda would die as soon as her child began to enter the world. "I know. I know." She looked up at her spouse, who looked almost possessed with grief. "Cosmo..."

Suddenly, he snapped, standing up and shouting at her between sobs. "No, Wanda! No! Don't you dare say it! Don't you dare tell me everything will be okay! 'C- 'cause it won't! It won't be okay! Timmy can't just wish it all better this time. You're gonna die!" He stopped for a bit, then collapsed in flurry of tears into his wife's arms. "You're gonna die."

She stroked his hair, uncomfortable by the truth she knew was in his words. "Shh, shh. It's all-"

"Don't say it."

"Everything will-"

"_Don't say it_."

The room grew quiet until Karranda cleared her throat. "There is another issue," she stated. "Dr. Studwell was killed."

"What?" the others all shrieked in unison.

"I'm thinking that it's Juandissimo's doing," she went on.

"Of course it's Juandissimo!" Jorgen exclaimed.

"Speaking of Juandissimo..." Wanda spoke the word like it left a burn on the tip of her tongue. "...Where is he?"

"Who cares?" came the scathing reply from her godson. "He's a jerk and a killer."

Wanda only blinked, thinking that the fact he was a "jerk and a killer" was a little too obvious for the necessity of Timmy saying it aloud. "True. True. So... with Studwell dead, who's going to deliver my child?

"Couldn't Timmy just wish it out like he did with me?" Cosmo asked.

Jorgen would have laughed had the situation not been so severe. "Cosmo, delivering a half-fairy- well, a three-quarter-fairy baby in this case- is a highly complexicated procedure. He can't just wish it out!" He paused. "...Can he?"

:::

Oh my, what a short chapter.

Well, this story is finally drawing to a close, and will be over with another chapter or two. Brace yourselves for the grand finale!

~Mikichu


	30. Reborn

Anti-Cosmo stood by the fireplace, filling it with logs, and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. He had poured gasoline along the floor and in the fireplace -it was primitive and uncreative, but it worked- and had tossed his letter to his wife below the wood he was placing now. Soon, all of this would be over with.

With a single flick of his wand, all his suffering would end.

_Cozzie?_

_Anti-Wanda! Hello._

_Wh- what're you doin'?_

_Reuniting myself with you, my love._

_Wha?_

_Read my letter._

_What letter?_

_When this place is set up in flames, it shall be visible to you._

_Set up in... Are you setting yerself on fire?_

_Yes. Yes, I am._

_Why?_

_Why not?_

_What about Anti-Fairy World?_

_Foop will be an adequate leader, dear. You needn't worry._

_But Cosmo?_

_What about him?_

_His baby's gonna need 'im, won't it?_

_What do you care? He's a fairy._

_So? _

_..._

_Cozzie?_

_Remember the transplant, dear. I will still technically be alive as long as my fagigally gland stays intact inside of him, so Cosmo will not perish. My spirit, however, will be released into the afterworld with you._

_But..._

_But?_

_I don't wanna see you die._

_Then turn away until my spirit embraces you._

_How will we hold eachotha?_

_Spirits can not hold physical beings -unless they materialize themselves, of course-, but they may grasp one another._

_Oh._

Anti-Cosmo flicked his wrist and almost immediately the palace was blazing. Searing tongues of greedy, orange flame, licked at the cool night air, hungry for more to strike with its heat. Anti-Wanda, hovering above the destruction, screamed and covered her face with her hands, not wanting to see the love of her life die in such a horrible way- even if it was for her.

She waited there for until she no longer had a sense of time. Where was he? Did his plan fail? Did his essence not form? Or did he decide at the last minute that she was not worth dying for? Not daring to glance back at the castle, she instead whispered his name, asking him where he was, over and over again until she felt two strong arms slip around her waist from behind and a high, loving voice coo in her ear:

**_"Give unto me your troubles,_**

**_"I'll endure your suffering._**

**_"Place unto me your burden,_**

**_"I'll drink your deadly poison."_**

:::

Jorgen and Timmy sat together on the couch in shock as the large, muscular fairy set down his phone. "That's it," he stated simply. "Juandissimo is dead."

"Who killed him?" Timmy asked. Jorgen cocked an eyebrow and Timmy gasped. "Oh yeah! Didn't Anti-Cosmo say he was going to...?"

"He did."

"Did you ever find out who that second person he was planning on killing was?"

"I did, and let me say, I am not quite sure what will happen to Anti-Fairy World now," Jorgen sighed. "Anti-Cosmo committed suicide about a month ago. His entire castle burned down with him inside... seems like an accident, and it would have been assumed so if his journal hadn't been found with Foop, containing his plans. It looked like a page was ripped out, too. "

"How could you have not heard of that before?" Timmy exclaimed.

"I do not like to make a habit of asking Anti-Fairies what is going on with them," he shrugged.

As Jorgen stood up to grab the remote ("All My Biceps" was on a different channel, and he just couldn't miss this one), Cosmo burst in the door. "Timmy! Timmy! Come quick, and grab Poof too!"

"Whoa whoa!" Timmy ran up to Cosmo, looking distressed. "What's going on?"

"Wanda's having her baby!"

Jorgen's eyes widened as he grabbed his wand. "Quick! We must get to the hospital!" he cried. "With Studwell and Cupid dead, there is no one to deliver Wanda's baby!"

:::

Remy woke in a sea of swirling colours. He tried standing up, but the light show made him dizzy and he fell, seeming to never land.

"Clarice!" he called. "Clarice! Where are you!"

Her voice came through the spinning fog, but he could not see her. "We've been released!" She sounded excited, but nervous. "We've been released!" Was there sadness in her voice?

"It's all the rich twerp's fault!" No doubt, that was Vicky.

"We need to find a new host!"

"I'm scared!" Ecar, the little boy! Why had Juandissimo killed him, anyway?

"Why can't Anti-Cosmo hold us anymore?" he asked.

"He has died!" Clarice sobbed.

"Please." This was the voice of someone else. He recognized the voice, but for some reason he couldn't place it. "Be at least thankful he had the presence of mind to release us and not let us burn to the ground with him. That would have been muy malo."

Oh, no. That couldn't be... "Juandissimo?"

"Ah, Remy! Hola." Remy saw a sillouette he knew all too well through the colours. "Do tell me how you have been, my child."

:::

_Wanda! Wanda!_

_C- Cupid! Hi!_

_Hold on, Wanda! Talking to me will distract you from the pain._

_It's hard._

_Cosmo's here for you, Wanda. He's always been here for you._

_I know thatm Cu- Ah! This isn't distracting me at all!_

_..._

_Cupid?_

_..._

_Cupid!_

_..._

**_CUPID!_**

_..._

_Where are you!_

:::

Cosmo waited outside of the room. Hearing Wanda scream was torturous to him, but hearing the shouts fade away was even scarier. Was she okay, or was she dead?

Timmy emerged from the room, looking traumatized. "I told you not to look," Jorgen was saying. "I told you to stay out here with Cosmo, but did you listen? No. You never listen. Ever."

"What happened?" Cosmo cried, tears welling up in his bright green eyes.

Jorgen and Timmy looked at each other. "Cosmo..."

"No." His voice was a whisper. "No. Don't say it. She's not..."

Jorgen only nodded, and Cosmo sank to his knees, weeping. "Did... did her baby survive?"

"Uh- huh. It's a boy." Timmy handed the small child to Cosmo and the green fairy stood, taking the boy in his arms.

His hair was bright pink -lighter than Wanda's, even- and his eyes were a bright sky blue. He lifted a pudgy hand at Cosmo, who looked up at Timmy. "Look at his back," his godchild told him. Cosmo did so, and he saw two small nubs there that would later develop into feathery wings.

"Cupid," he decided. "I'm gonna call him Cupid."

:::

The end.

Until next time. Next up, Anti-Love!

~Mikichu


End file.
